BANGALORE: Roman Catholic (RC) church heads from the state have termed the report by Justice B K Somasekhara Commission "along expected lines, partisan, ambiguous and disappointing".
They said they felt let down and might opt for a legal recourse to seek justice.
“The Christian community is disappointed and find the report unfair,” said Jayanathan, Vicar General of Archdiocese of Bangalore. In a message issued on behalf of the Archbishop, Bernard Moras, who is out of the country, Jayanathan said, “If some incidents of attacks are true, why the Commission failed to name those who were responsible for these attacks? To say that ‘it was self-inflicted, some make-believe, some blown out of proportion and some totally politicised’ is, indeed, very painful.” Fr William Menezes of the Mangalore Diocese said that while the report mentioned that the RC Church did not indulge in conversions either through force, deceit, inducement or any other form, said: “It is regrettable that the Commission has failed to recommend action against those responsible.” “Where is the evidence for circulation of derogatory literature and conversions? The real culprits should be nailed,” said Fr Antony Swamy, Superior of the Missionaries of St Francis de Sales.
"We are not sure how credible the report is,” said Fr Sudeep Paul, Head of Department, Communication and Journalism, St Francis de Sales College.
The Vice-chairperson of the National Minorities Commission, H T Sangliana, found the report ‘unfortunate’.
“Even its suggestion that every district should have an exclusive police station with specially-trained police officers for religious matters is impractical. It doesn’t mention anything about the police officers who failed to prevent such incidents, when it should have initiated prosecution. It’s a pointless, general comment, which is just not bold enough,” he lambasted.
The aggrieved parties should take legal route and the government should rehabilitate those who suffered in these incidents, added Sangliana.
According to the Archdiocese of Bangalore, the highest bodies of the respective Christian churches in Karnataka and the Karnataka United Christian Forum for Human Rights (KUCFHR) would study the final report of Justice Somasekhara Commission and decide on the future course of action.
