Karnataka: Somasekhara Commission to soon submit report

The interim report on last year's church attacks in Karnataka will soon be released, said Justice BK Somasekhara, who is heading the commission of inquiry into the attacks.

The Justice Somasekhara Commission of Inquiry was instituted by the government of Karnataka to inquire into the sequence of events and circumstances leading to attack on churches during the month of September 2008 in Dakshina Kannada and other districts of Karnataka.

Now that the inquiry is over, the report, which is about 10,000-page, will be shortly submitted to the government, said Justice Somasekhara.

The Commission has so far visited and studied 25 out of 40 churches attacked in the state, media reported.

It also recorded the statements of witnesses at DK, Bangalore rural, Davanagere, Chitradurga, Mysore, Kodagu, Dharwad, Shimoga, Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Bellary.

According to Justice Somasekhara, 150 court proceedings over a period of 800 hours was held in the presence of 800 witnesses, besides 300 video recordings.

He estimates that by December end all inquires and hearings would be completed.

During the September attacks, several Catholic and Protestant churches, institutions and prayer halls were attacked by Hindutva extremists who went scot-free even after several complaints and reports.

Last month, a Christian delegation met the home minister and submitted a memorandum urging to withdraw the 'false' cases against Christians.

They also informed that the Christian community was angered by the "horrifying persecution, prolonged and persistent harassment, attacks on priests and nuns and places of worship" by miscreants.

The memorandum further denounced rumors of forced conversions and said it was a baseless allegation to persecute Christians by the BJP-ruled state. There only can be "voluntary and self-desired conversion", they notified.

Besides, Christian population accounts for barely 2% of the country's total population as per the 2001 census. If the Church used its premier educational institutions and establishments, the Christian population would have touched 50%, the memorandum informed.