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Karnataka: Christian woman arrested on false charges of forced conversion
by Nirmala Carvalho
Hers is the 41st case of anti-Christian violence in Karnataka since the start of the year. Global Council of Indian Christians president Sajan K George slams the government, police and Hindu extremists.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – On the eve of Advent, a time of expectations and hope, Karnataka recorded its 41st anti-Christian incident of the year. A Christian woman, Mrs Janakiyamma, who is a member of the Bethel Ministry Church, was arrested. Her “only crime was to spread the word of God,” said Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), which “waits with hope for the time when the Christian minority in Karnataka will enjoy religious freedom as it is enshrined in the Indian Constitution”.
On Saturday, Mrs Janakiyamma was praying with her husband and other members of her church at a home in the outskirts of Kushalnagar village, in Kodagu District (Karnataka).
During the meeting, members of the Bajrang Dal and Sangh Parivar, two ultranationalist Hindu organisations, burst into the home, accusing those present of engaging in forced conversions. After they called the Kushalnagar police station, agents arrived and arrested the woman, who was taken later in the day to Madikeri Prison.
“When the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is in power, police turns its back on Christians even if they are supposed to protect [all] citizens. The speed with which false accusations were made, and the repeated threats and acts of persecution against the Christian minority show a clear link between the government, police and extremists.”
Since 2008, Karnataka has been under a BJP administration, which has backed Hindu extremist groups and movements from a Hindu nationalist umbrella organisation, the Sangh Parivar. These groups include the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal, all of which have carried out acts of violence against Dalits and Christians.