Mangalore (AsiaNews) – A well-known Hindu temple, entangled for weeks in a disturbing affair involving the bodies of people allegedly killed and removed, has provided another opportunity to formulate accusations against Christians in the Indian state of Karnataka.
A 48-year-old Dalit man, employed as a sanitation worker from 1995 to 2014 at the venerated Dharmasthala temple, filed a complaint with local police in early July, alleging that he was forced to bury hundreds of bodies, including those of children.
He said that he was speaking with “an extremely heavy heart and to recover from an insurmountable sense of guilt”.
In his statement, he mentioned scores of bodies of women and girls, presumably killed after being victims of sexual violence, but also of destitute men, whose murders he claimed to have witnessed with his own eyes.
To deal with the matter, Karnataka’s state government, led by the Indian National Congress, established a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The man who filed the complaint says he was forced under severe psychological pressure to dispose of the bodies, some by burying them, others by burning them.
To back his complaint, he identified 13 sites in a forest near the temple where mass graves are believed to be located. Initial excavation by investigators has confirmed the presence of some human remains.
Meanwhile, many families in Karnataka – who reported the disappearance of relatives (mostly girls) during the period in question – have asked the local government to investigate the matter further.
However, the controversy has recently taken on political overtones. Members of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janaa Party (BJP), which is in the opposition in Karnataka, have slammed what they deem an attack against the Dharmasthala temple.
Yesterday, BJP officials visited the shrine to counter a "smear campaign" blamed on to rival Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Meanwhile, the affair has taken on a dangerously anti-Christian bent as well.
A former union minister, B Janardhana Poojary, from the Indian National Congress, created confusion by linking the discovery of human remains at Dharmasthala to Christian burials.
Local BJP leader R. Ashoka went further, making the unfounded claim that the Dalit complainant (whose identity is being withheld by police for security reasons) is a Christian convert and that foreign funds are involved in the affair.
The Catholic Diocese of Mangalore condemned Ashoka's irresponsible remarks.
"These statements appear to be based solely on rumours. A person in a responsible position like the Leader of Opposition should not make childish comments without evidence,” reads a statement released by the local Church.
The diocese also expressed disappointment with former minister Janardhana Poojary's remarks.
“In Christian burial grounds, no anonymous or unclaimed bodies are buried. Every burial is documented, and only members of the respective church are interred,” the statement reads.
“Dragging Christian cemeteries into the Dharmasthala issue has deeply hurt our sentiments. Such comparisons are unfounded and misleading,” it added.
