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- The 2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka refer to the wave of attacks directed against Christian churches and prayer halls in the Indian city of Mangalore and the surrounding area of southern Karnataka in September and October 2008 by Hindu nationalist organisations, Bajrang Dal and the Sri Ram Sena. The attacks were widely perceived by Christians in southern Karnataka to be punishment from right-wing Hindu nationalist organisations because they had been outspoken about 2008 anti-Christian attacks in Orissa, and also because the New Life Fellowship Trust (NLFT), a non-denominational Christian Church, was alleged by Bajrang Dal to be responsible for forced conversions of Hindus to Christianity. Several isolated incidents against Christians were reported from 17 August onwards, and on 29 August some 45,000 institutions across India participated in a "prayer for peace and communal harmony" in response to the ongoing anti-Christian violence in Orissa. St Aloysius College (Mangalore) and some other 2000 Christian schools in Karnataka went on strike for varying periods between 29 August and the 5 September prior to the attacks, protesting against the attacks in Orissa, in defiance of the orders of the government who stated that it was to be a regular work day. This led to government denouncement of the Christian institutions in the state for disobeying orders and led to a Bajrang Dal demonstration outside the St Aloysius College, two weeks prior to the main attacks. The attacks began on 14 September, when a group of youths from the Bajrang Dal went inside the chapel of Adoration Monastery of the Sisters of St-Clare near the Milagres Church in Hampankatta and desecrated it. Some 20 churches or prayer halls, including Catholic and Protestant churches and temples belonging to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and other evangelical sects, and colleges were damaged in towns and villages in the Mangalore taluk and other parts of Dakshina Kannada district, Udupi district and Chikkamagaluru district. A few Christian institutions were later attacked in Bangalore and Kasaragod district. Out of frustration and anger, the Christian community responded to the attacks within hours and began protesting. In Karkala, the Catholics of Karkala deanery staged a protest on 15 September and organised a 3 kilometre silent protest march. The protestors blocked arterial city roads in their masses, especially in places such as Hampankatta, Kulshekar, Bejai, Derebail and Thokottu and rang bells in almost all the churches of Mangalore, calling parishioners to their churches. The protests led to strong police suppression with lathi charges and tear gas, making around 150 arrests and injuring 30 to 40 people. Violence broke out at the Adoration monastery as police began caning the protestors with sticks and bursting teargas shells, in return the protesters pelted stones at police, and the police pelted the stones back at them. In another place the police were pelted with stones for their failure to arrest the perpetrators of the attacks. Between 15 September and 10 October, a new wave of anti-minority attacks began against Christian communities in the Indian states of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, New Delhi, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand, as well as Muslim communities in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The September 2008 attacks had political significance, given that the ruling BJP Karnataka state government, led by BS Yeddyurappa, were also accused of involvement and backing the anti-Christian campaigns and that the police were reported to have had knowledge of the imminent attacks but failed to prevent them. The police were criticised for their reaction to the protests and a report by a committee of human rights activists set up in the aftermath to examine the causes of the attacks claimed that they had used the event as a pretext to assault the community, rather than defend it. Justice B. K. Somasekhara of Karnataka, however, concluded that the police and government helped maintain order and were not responsible for the attacks. In response to the alleged forcible conversions of involvement, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) gave a three-month deadline for New Life Fellowship Trust (NLFT) to stop all conversion activities in Mangalore. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore declared that it would distance itself from the New Life Fellowship Trust. In February 2011, retired Justice MF Saldanha of the Bombay High Court, was outspoken and published a report in which he described the attacks as "state-sponsored terrorism", and that the attacks were part of "communal forces" at work attacking Christian institutions on the coastal belt of India. The report and continued denial by the state government of being implicated in the attacks led to more than 100,000 Christians representing some 45 Christian denominations and secular organisations leading a silent march in Mangalore on 21 February. Following the publications of the reports and subsequent protests, the government of Karnataka announced that it would drop 338 cases against Christians who had protested in the attack, and in December 2011 a further 23 cases against Christians were dropped. (en)
- Serangan terhadap umat Kristen di Karnataka selatan 2008 merujuk kepada serangan yang ditujukan kepada gereja-gereja dan tempat-tempat berdoa umat Kristen di kota India Mangalore dan wilayah sekitar selatan Karnataka pada bulan September dan Oktober 2008 oleh organisasi ekstrimis Hindu, dan . Serangan tersebut terjadi dikarenakan yang dituduh dilakukan oleh komunitas Kristen lokal dan juga karena (NLFT), sebuah Gereja Kristen non-denominasional, yang dituduh oleh Bajrang Dal bertanggung jawab terhadap dari Hindu ke Kristen. (in)
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- "After my government come into power, I first met the Bishop of Mangalore and other Muslim leaders, and asked them for unity among all religions. We have to stop all misunderstandings between religions. We have to treat each and every citizen equally. Whoever takes law into their hands should be punished. I strongly condemn this act against the Catholic churches. Karnataka is famous for peace and we need to maintain peace in this state. This incident should not occur again." (en)
- "The church and the entire Christian community not only in Karnataka but all over India and even abroad is terribly angry and upset at the desecration of its sacred places, especially the blessed sacrament in the sanctum sanctorum, which is the Living Body of Christ. For Christians, the blessed sacrament is the most holy religious symbol signifying the body and blood of Christ. I am prepared to shed blood and give my life for the cause of Christ and Christians." (en)
- "Historically, Dakshina Kannada district has been a very long standing RSS / VHP stronghold. Right from the days of the freedom movement and thereafter when Gandhi was assassinated by a group of fanatics who maintained that his brand of politics was unacceptable to the Hindu fundamentalists, the district has always been the nerve-centre of these movements with regular morning drills on the maidans , processions, baithaks and sammelans . These activities took a violent turn after the year 2000 when it was found very convenient to target the Muslim community on the ground that they are allegedly anti-nationals and that they are disloyal to this country. It is an offence under the IPC to indulge in any form of communal disharmony but the offensive articles kept regularly appearing in the Press headed by a leading Kannada daily owned by some industrialists from Manipal, particularly after the 1993 Bombay Bomb Blasts and violent incidents in different parts of the country. Mangalore in particular, and some of the other towns in Dakshina Kannada were prone to Hindu–Muslim violence though on a relatively small and isolated scale but this was definitely a disturbing factor. Never had it happened before that the Christian community had been attacked." (en)
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- Serangan terhadap umat Kristen di Karnataka selatan 2008 merujuk kepada serangan yang ditujukan kepada gereja-gereja dan tempat-tempat berdoa umat Kristen di kota India Mangalore dan wilayah sekitar selatan Karnataka pada bulan September dan Oktober 2008 oleh organisasi ekstrimis Hindu, dan . Serangan tersebut terjadi dikarenakan yang dituduh dilakukan oleh komunitas Kristen lokal dan juga karena (NLFT), sebuah Gereja Kristen non-denominasional, yang dituduh oleh Bajrang Dal bertanggung jawab terhadap dari Hindu ke Kristen. (in)
- The 2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka refer to the wave of attacks directed against Christian churches and prayer halls in the Indian city of Mangalore and the surrounding area of southern Karnataka in September and October 2008 by Hindu nationalist organisations, Bajrang Dal and the Sri Ram Sena. The attacks were widely perceived by Christians in southern Karnataka to be punishment from right-wing Hindu nationalist organisations because they had been outspoken about 2008 anti-Christian attacks in Orissa, and also because the New Life Fellowship Trust (NLFT), a non-denominational Christian Church, was alleged by Bajrang Dal to be responsible for forced conversions of Hindus to Christianity. (en)
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