Miscreants vandalise 160-year-old church in Karnataka’s Chikkaballapur
The incident comes amid rising tension in State over anti-conversion Bill; hundreds participate in protest march in Bengaluru
A church in southern Karnataka’s Chikkaballapur district was vandalised on Thursday morning amid rising tension in the State over a recently introduced anti-conversion Bill. The Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government in the State has been pushing to clear the Bill amid strong opposition from the Christian community.
Local reports said that at around 5:30 am Thursday, the St Joseph’s church — a 160-year-old building — was attacked by miscreants. The statue of St Anthony was reportedly broken, and the police have taken it away for investigation. An FIR has been filed.
Also read: Rayanna statue row: Kannada groups call for state-wide bandh on Dec 31
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly is taking up the Karnataka Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021, on Thursday for consideration and passage. If it’s passed and implemented, a punishment of up to 10 years of imprisonment can be imposed for ‘forcible’ conversion to another religion of persons from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, minors and women.
On Wednesday, hundreds of Bengaluru residents from at around 40 socio-political organisations participated in a protest march against the anti-conversion Bill. While the BJP claims the law is needed to prevent forcible conversion of Hindus to Christianity and Islam, the Opposition says it is a ploy by the ruling party to win Hindu votes ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
