Bangalore: Church Attack - Opposition Dares CM to File Police Complaint
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Sep 14: Who is behind the attack against the Francis De Sales Church at Hebbagodi in Anekal taluk of Bangalore rural district on Friday when statues of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary were destroyed and several window glass panes of the church were damaged?
If the chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has accused the Opposition Congress and JD(S) leaders of instigating the attack to tarnish BJP government’s image as being anti-minority as part of the larger political conspiracy to destabilise his government, BJP national general secretary and former union minister Ananth Kumar blames the Congress. The home minister Dr V S Acharya has a different take, when he dismissed it as a ``minor’’ attack blown out of proportion by the opposition and the media.
So, who is the culprit or conspirators behind this incident coming exactly a year after the series of similar attacks against churches and places of worship belonging to Catholics and Christians in coastal Mangalore, Udupi, Kodagu, Davangere, Bangalore and other places, which is the subject of a judicial inquiry headed by Mr Justice B K Somashekara?
JD(S) leader and former law minister M C Nanaiah, who is known for his sharp tongue on Monday challenged the chief minister to personally file a criminal complaint in any police station against any of the opposition leaders if he had even a shred of evidence to prove his charges.
M C Nanaiah, Siddaramaih, V S Ugrappa
"Are we the kind of people who indulge in damaging or destroying churches, mosgues and other places of worship belonging to minority communities?,’’ he asked.
Speaking in support of the adjournment motion sought to be moved by Congress Opposition leader V S Ugrappa against the government on the issue in the Karnataka legislative council, the JD(S) floor leader in the House dared Yeddyurappa to file a police complaint against any opposition leader and prove his charges instead of levelling wild and baseless allegations.
"We have the courage to face the charges and any kind of case that the chief minister deems fit to bring out the truth,’’ he said asking the latter to reciprocate thegesture by accepting his challenge. ``It is a question of our honour and character,’’ he said asking the chief minister to withdraw the CID probe and institute a police case.
"Let the chief minister file police complaint against anybody – be it Congress president Sonia Gandi, KPCC president R V Deshpande or working president D K Shivakumar, Congress opposition leader in the assembly Siddaramaiah or his counterpart in the council V S Ugrappa or JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda or former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy – and we will gladly face the action,’’ he said taking strong exception to the chief minister’s baseless and unfounded allegations.
Incidentally, the chief minister, who made a passing reference to the church attack during the course of his reply to the debate on agriculture and rural development in the state assembly, announced that Deputy commissioners and Superintendents of Police in the districts would be held responsible for any communal incidents including the attacks on places of worship. The conduct rules will be strictly applicable even to the officers of the All India Services—IAS and IPS, he said.
Congress opposition leader in the council V S Ugrappa, who sought to move the adjournment motion, said the chief minister erred in making any statement on a sensitive issue like attack on the churches outside the legislature when the legislature session was on. The legislature procedures and parliamentary norms mandated that the government should have first taken the legislature into confidence.
Ugrappa criticised the chief minister for raking up extraneous issues without any evidence. The former chief minister Veerendra Patil had to step down due to ill-health and not due to any political conspiracy or destabilisation as alleged by Yeddyurappa, the Congress leader said.
Ugrappa said the people were fully aware of the antecedents of various Sangh Parivar outfits, particularly Bajrang Dal and Sri Rama Sene, and the havoc caused by them in the state last year. The moral policing and attack against pub-going women or those wearing jeans or talking to the opposite sex or participating in Valentines Day are too well-known, he said.
The Congress leader criticised the home minister for terming the incident as a minor and insignificant routine matter and pointed out that different sections, especially minorities and women, were feeling insecure. The chief minister would do well to analyse and find out why the sudden spurt in attacks against Christians and Muslims since the BJP came to power on its own in the state, he said.
Former council chairman V R Sudarsharn accused the chief minister of trying to instigate opposition by levelling false charges and thereby cover up the BJP government’s maladministration and bungling.
The home minister Dr V S Acharya, however, stoutly denied the opposition charges and asserted that the chief minister was merely echoing the feelings of a large section of people that the church attack was a conspiracy by some people to sully the image of the government which was doing good work.
He said he was willing to reply to the issue raised by the Opposition. However, Chairman Veeranna Matthikatti said he would take up the issue later.