Date:23/06/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/23/stories/2007062357500300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Atrocities against Christians on the rise’

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: Two Sundays ago Paul Samuel, a pastor, was leading a prayer meeting at Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district when scores of Hindu Jagaran Vedike activists reportedly attacked the gathering, beat up several members of the group, including Mr. Samuel, and turned in nine individuals to the police for converting “innocent” Hindus to Christianity. “No one, not the local MLA, the police or the media are on our side,” Mr. Samuel said at a meeting organised by the All-India Christian Council and the Joint Action Forum of Christians here on Thursday. There is a growing trend in atrocities committed against church workers and pastors in the State, said D.M.C. Prasad of the Church of South India, Karnataka Southern Diocese. He recounted similar incidents in Shimoga, Chikmagalur and, most recently, in Hesaraghatta where a pastor was grievously injured in a communal attack just 10 days ago.

Samuel Christopher, a CSI pastor, said conversions should be seen in their historical context. Conversion to Christianity, however, did not always change the social situation for better or worse.