2021 anti-Christian violence in Karnataka

The issue of forcible conversions gained momentum since September 2021 when a BJP politician, Goolihatti Shekhar from Hosadurga, claimed that there was a huge number of forced conversions to Christianity had occurred in his constituency including his mother. However, officials conducted a survey in Hosadurga and concluded that there was no forcible act of religious conversion and Christians attend prayers in Churches voluntarily and without coercion. The tehsildar who conducted the investigation was transferred out on December 16 without any posting.[10][1][14] On October 16, the Karnataka's Intelligence Department issued a directive to top police and intelligence officers in Karnataka to acquire information on "authorized and unauthorised" churches.[15] The police department, which is overseen by the Home Minister of Karnataka, Araga Jnanendra, concluded that no unauthorised churches exist inside any of the district boundaries in Karnataka.[16]

In the aftermath of numerous attacks on churches by right-wing organizations, the BJP administration was able to get the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, 2021 or anti-conversion law passed in the lower house of the state legislature on December 23, 2021, in the winter session in Belagavi.[17][18] The bill makes it illegal to convert a person by deception, undue influence, force, allurement, coercion or any other fraudulent methods. It prohibits conversion for marriage, a long-standing demand of right-wingers who claimed of an increase in the Love jihad conspiracy.[19][20] Conversion to Hinduism has been excluded since the BJP claimed it is about the return of Hindus who have accepted a foreign religion.[20] The Bill seeks a maximum sentence of ten years in prison for forced religious conversion of minors, women and persons from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.[21]

Several parties, including the Christian community and human rights groups opposed the Bill, alleging that it might be abused to target religious minorities.[22] The New York Times reported that the anti-conversion laws are part of the BJP's strategy of using religion to polarize the people and gain support from the Hindu majority.[23]

The Human rights organisation, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) published a report titled "Criminalising Practice of Faith- A Report" on hate crimes against Christians in Karnataka.[3] The report documented 39 violent incidents against Christians in Karnataka from January to November 2021. These incidents occurred at churches and prayer halls throughout the state, with Belagavi in northern Karnataka having the largest number of incidences. The report noted that in nearly every case of mob violence, the police actively attempted to criminalize the lives of Christians and prevent them from holding prayer meetings.[4] The perpetrators are all Hindutva organizations, such as the RSS, Hindu Jagrana Vedike, Bajrang Dal, and a more violent, new organization named Banjara Nigama.[5] Local police have been spotted collaborating with Hindutva extremists to instil fear and hatred towards Christians, and the police frequently looked the other way to incidences of violence, sexual attacks, abuse and social and economic boycotts.[47][48] The report stated that "mass conversion" as claimed by attackers, is an excuse for violence on Churches and Christians.[6]

It reported that major Kannada news agencies such as Asianet Suvarna News, TV 5 and Public TV broadcast a mix of false arguments, blatant lies, misleading statements, one-sided reporting and prejudice in favour of Hindutva groups and against Christianity. The study also examined that the mainstream media reporting coordinated with the online activities of Hindutva through videos of the attacks uploaded on social media.[6][4][48]

In nearly every incident, the perpetrators yelled casteist insults and abuse at those present in the prayer meetings.[5] The report said that the attackers hurl casteist slurs since the Christians in rural areas are mostly daily wage workers and labourers from Dalit communities.[7]

The PUCL observed a pattern in the operations of the mob.[7] This includes Hindutva mobs beating people up, vandalizing churches, filming the incidents and then sharing the footage to celebrate a "Hindu victory".[6]

1. Hindutva leaders organize a mob and designate locations in their community where Sunday prayers are held.[7]
2. The mob notifies the local police department of the impending attack that they are going to carry out.[7]
3. The mob of 25 to 30 people breaks into the religious building, accusing preachers of proselytizing. They spew casteist remarks at them and beat them with sticks and rods. Women are sexually, verbally and physically assaulted.[7]
4. Soon, the cops arrive to the spot and violently demand identification papers.[7] In the majority of cases, police showed up minutes after the mob crashed a prayer meeting.[5] On several occasions, instead of helping victims of assault, the police took pastors and worshippers to police stations and booked cases.[49]