The statewide targeting of Christians in BJP-ruled Karnataka in 2008, even as Adivasi Christians in Orissa’s Kandhamal district were being hounded under a coalition government of which the BJP was a partner, caused a huge national and internal outrage. In response, the Karnataka government appointed the Justice BK Somasekhara Commission to probe the widespread violence. An interim report of the commission, made public last year, suggested that the final report would be a severe indictment of various organisations owing allegiance to Hindutva. The final report submitted by the commission is yet to be tabled in the Karnataka assembly. But parts of the final report which have been made public suggest a shameful turnaround whereby the sangh parivar’s affiliate organisations have been given a clean chit. Meanwhile, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), South Kanara, and Transparency International India, Karnataka chapter, have released the findings of an independent inquiry into the violence against Christians, churches and prayer halls in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Bangalore in 2008. The report of this inquiry conducted by Justice Michael F. Saldanha, a retired judge of the Karnataka high court, brings to light the full horror of the violence unleashed against Christians by Hindutva forces with the full complicity of the police.

We reproduce below excerpts from the Report of the People’s Tribunal Inquiry followed by a critical evaluation of the conduct of the Somasekhara Commission.

The attacks that took place  on September 14, 2008  were well planned, premeditated and executed with precision, as I found out to my distress when I conducted this inquiry. What was very significant was the fact that wherever this took place, the police protection was zero vis-ŕ-vis the victims though they were providing leadership and cover to the attackers, shocking as it may appear; but in the immediate aftermath, it was the police who were the main assailants, aided and abetted by the saffron political activists. Again, there was absolutely no doubt about the origin of the violence because Mahendra Kumar, the local president of the Bajrang Dal wherever the attacks took place, has appeared repeatedly before the media (on 37 recorded occasions), claiming full responsibility for what was done and even promising to step up the violence. The same position holds good as far as Pramod Mutalik, head of the Rama Sene, goes. …

Shortly after the attacks, the local RSS chief in his public exhortation before Dussehra incited his followers by stating that “this Dussehra when the Ayudha Puja is done, do not do the puja of your implements of trade, as was the old custom, but do the puja to trishuls, knives and talwars (swords), as these will have to be used against the Christians and the Muslims. This sensational speech was carried on the front pages of all the dailies in the state and by the TV channels…

Immediately after September 14, 2008, oral instructions had been issued by the home minister personally, which the heads of the police stations admitted on over a dozen occasions to me, that whenever a complaint was received against any member of the Christian community on the allegation that attempts were being made to convert, the person should be arrested, bail should be opposed and that they should be given a good beating while in custody. Whereas prior to September 14, 2008, there had not been a single arrest under these provisions of law anywhere in the state, suddenly, hundreds of cases were being registered. The shocking part of the incidents were that the local courts refused bail for months in every case. …

During the months of September to December 2008, and to a large extent in the months that followed, the BJP government in Karnataka had given the Bajrang Dal a free hand to run wild, particularly in the Karavali area. Groups of young activists would be driving two-wheelers, jeeps and cars prominently flying saffron flags as an intimidatory gesture to all other communities. This had never happened before. These persons would indulge in violence at the slightest pretext, most of the time without any cause. The police stations and the hospitals had been instructed by the home department not to entertain and register any complaints from the victims and within a few weeks it was clear all over the state, particularly the Karavali area, that it was useless approaching any of these forums. What distresses me particularly is the fact that this infection had spread both to the Bar and to the subordinate judiciary in the whole of the area. A good percentage of the lawyers openly proclaimed allegiance to the BJP. …

There were no less than over a hundred incidents within a short period of time where boys and girls belonging to the Muslim and Christian communities were mercilessly beaten up, kidnapped, abducted and terrorised on the ground that they were associating with members of another community. There were as many as 218 such incidents reported from all over the state, the bulk of them from the Dakshina Kannada district. In not even one of these cases was anybody arrested. Anticipatory bail was freely available and in the small number of instances where some limited action was taken by the police, principally under public pressure, the subordinate judiciary was quick to grant bail within minutes with the police and prosecutors actively cooperating. (Foreword)

Destruction of evidence

Then comes the nicest part of the operation. The home department had instructed the police to get hold of the local shopkeepers and workmen to immediately restore all the damage that had taken place. Broken glass was replaced, damage to all other items was undone and the pastors were told that the government has instructed the police to ensure that whatever damage has taken place is immediately undone. The speed at which this counter-operation was undertaken was absolutely amazing. To my mind, this was a brilliant move on the part of the state government because on the one hand, the congregation was beaten up, they were terrorised and in every single instance, items such as mangalsutras, gold chains and other valuables, including ladies’ handbags, watches and men’s purses, were physically looted, the place was vandalised, and after all of this, a pious impression was projected by the police on behalf of the government that the authorities were very concerned over the incident and had decided to make good all the damage. By following such a brilliant procedure the government was able to officially state that not a single incident of this type had taken place and that the allegations with regard to these incidents are not only false but are motivated. (Chapter XVI, The Sathyadarshini Controversy)

False propaganda

In justification for the attacks against the community and the places of worship, the saffron brigade, and particularly the Bajrang Dal leaders, officially proclaimed that the Christian community has been circulating a publication entitled Sathyadarshini and that this publication contains highly offensive references to Hinduism, to Hindu deities, and that the statements are so very bad that they are in fact obscene in many instances. Not only did the leaders proclaim this in writing, and issued numerous press statements, but for a period of about two months they referred to this extensively on the electronic media and the TV statements put out the argument that since the Christian community had attacked Hinduism and Hindu beliefs, counter-attacks were necessary. In as many as 19 instances in different parts of the state where the activists vandalised churches and prayer halls belonging to denominations other than the Catholics, the strange part of it was that copies of this publication were alleged to have been in circulation but were never seized. …

In the two open meetings that were held with the chief minister and the home minister where several of their cabinet colleagues were present I had asked that since the issue was so very serious, the government should be in a position to produce at least one copy of this publication so that we could ascertain for ourselves as to what were the contents. The director-general of police (DGP) and the commissioner of police (CP), Bangalore, as also the superintendents of police (SPs) of Mangalore, Udupi, Chikmagalur and Davangere, were present. None of them was in a position to produce the material… As a face-saving device, the SPs in question stated that the police had raided all the churches and prayer halls as also other areas and searched them very meticulously but they could not find a single copy with anybody. (Chapter XVI, The Sathyadarshini Controversy)

Silencing the media

Only that section of the press and TV who were supportive were liberally fed with funds running into hundreds of crores of rupees by the state government through all sorts of dubious heads. For instance, 17 huge functions were held in honour of Swami Vivekananda all over the state and Rs 870 crore were spent by the state government in just seven weeks. The twofold objective of these activities was aimed at terrorising the local population because those attending would invariably indulge in a show of force on the way to these venues and on the way back. What was characteristic was the fact that apart from the leading politicians of the state government at all levels attending these functions, hundreds of KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation) buses and government vehicles were all mobilised for them… The Times of India, which is basically a neutral paper, published a news report on August 31, 2008 to the effect that in response to a query under the Right to Information Act, the chief secretary of the state government had admitted that in the preceding period, which covered just five months, the state government had spent Rs 3,118 crore on these activities. This was apart from an amount of Rs 289 crore which the chief minister had personally (again out of state funds) donated to various maths and Hindu religious places which he had visited. (Chapter XVII, The Editor, Seetaram Case – Attacks on the Media)

Throttling a free press

There is a small publication in the Karavali area which is a daily paper in the Kannada language and it is extremely popular in the whole of this belt. The name of this paper is Karavali Ale. The editor of this paper is BV Seetaram. He also brings out an English edition called The Canara Times which is published once a week. Seetaram, popularly known as BVSee, not only carried regular reports and pictures of the communal atrocities but he also wrote strong editorials disapproving of the atrocities and condemning them. He and his entire team received numerous threats over the telephone and were even subjected to physical violence from time to time with absolutely no relief from the police. His office was regularly stoned and vandalised and despite whatever security measures he could afford, damage to property became a regular affair. Instead of being intimidated, BVSee kept up the campaign.

One Sunday morning a Jain sadhu took out a procession through one of the main roads of Mangalore city. The sadhu was nude, as that was his religious custom, and he was leading the procession with a group of his followers. This incident created a controversy in the area because it was a predominantly Christian part of town and the procession went through the area at the same time when the majority of the residents were making their way to the church for the Sunday mass. There were no confrontations… One of the readers wrote a strong letter to the editor in which he stated that obscenity is an offence under the Indian Penal Code and that even if it is done on religious grounds, if the offence is committed in a public place, it is actionable under law because it is highly offensive to the general public.

It so happened that BVSee published this letter. The government and the authorities were just waiting for an opportunity to hit back at him. He and his wife were arrested under half a dozen charges of inciting communal disharmony, etc and two criminal cases were registered against them, one in Mangalore and the second one in the chief minister’s home town of Shimoga. His wife had nothing to do with the publication; she was only a director of the company. BVSee had nothing [directly] to do with the publication of the letter, which was done in routine course by the news editor and the staff. The two of them were arrested by the police late in the evening on a weekend. When they asked for bail, it was refused… The two of them were put in the filthiest possible lock-up which was virtually stinking and infested with rats and every other form of vermin. They had the most notorious antisocial elements for company and the police refused to even allow them clothes or home food on the ground that they had instructions from the highest quarters in Bangalore i.e. the home minister himself not to allow this. …

BVSee’s lawyers applied to the high court, pointing out the conduct of the police and the magistrate. Not only did the high court straightaway order the release of both of them on bail but passed severe strictures against the police for registering an office which was supposed to be on the basis of the letter that had appeared in the paper regarding the naked procession of the Jain muni. The refusal to grant bail by the magistrate at his residence was held to be downright improper and motivated and the manner in which the bail application was deliberately delayed and dilated came in for condemnation from the high court. The high court even directed that a disciplinary inquiry be held against the judicial officer for the biased manner in which he had conducted himself. Nothing happened. …

This incident had a chilling effect on other publications, all of whom decided that it was too dangerous to invite similar steps against themselves. It must be said to the credit of BVSee that despite threats, regular attacks at his office and attacks on his editorial staff, they continued their campaign and, not surprisingly, this was highly appreciated by the readers and the popularity of the paper increased by about 10 times. The church attack incidents had swung public opinion heavily against the state government all over the country and all over the world and this was the reason why the police and the state government did not openly attack Seetaram for some time. It was however clear that they were looking for an opportunity.

All of a sudden, attacks were started against the distribution channels. The bundles of the newspaper were targeted in the course of distribution, forcibly seized and burnt. More than a hundred complaints were filed with the police, even pointing out the names of the persons doing this, but they refused to act. It became exceedingly difficult for the paper to be distributed to the cities, towns and villages because it was being targeted at the distribution points. The more effective tactic that was used was that every newspaper seller was attacked and beaten up if he so much as kept even one copy of this paper. This was being done on a daily basis. …

[O]n a Sunday evening… BVSee and his wife had decided to visit a temple some distance outside the city. A jeep and two police vans turned up at his residence where his student daughter was alone. They forced their way into the house on the ground that they had to search the place. Extensive damage was caused, a lot of valuables and cash disappeared from the place and the police party left. They had obtained information as to where BVSee was going and all of a sudden, at a lonely place in the dark, the police jeep overtook his car and stopped it. The police officers told BVSee that he was under arrest but refused to disclose the charges. His driver was ordered to follow the police jeep with the two vans behind the car. For the next hour this convoy proceeded from area to area in the hope of finding a sufficiently lonely place. Despite attempts for over an hour… they found it extremely difficult to find the secluded spot that they were looking for. BVSee and his wife were terrified principally because the district police have become infamous for the number of so-called “encounter killings” that they have been involved in. …

When the attempts to assassinate BVSee and his wife failed, they were driven to the police station in Udupi. They were made to sit there for about two hours and the police refused to disclose the ground on which they were being arrested. Udupi, incidentally, is the home base of the state home minister. The operations were being directed by Home Minister Acharya’s doctor son. Finally, at about 10:00 p.m., the police informed BVSee that there was a non-bailable warrant issued against him by one of the courts and that he was under arrest pursuant to this. …

[The] magistrate refused bail and BVSee was retained in custody for the night. …

The next morning, in order to humiliate him, BVSee was chained hand and foot and was paraded through the court premises in Udupi. There are photographs of this in the national and international media. His lawyer raised a serious objection to a newspaper editor being chained as though he was a dangerous criminal. …

The horror story does not end there… A habeas corpus petition was filed before the high court and the court immediately intervened and stopped the atrocities of the state government. This petition was heard a few days later. The judges were virtually livid; they directed his immediate release and ordered compensatory costs of Rs 10,000. …

The world needs to know what happened to Seetaram because it is one of the blackest chapters in Karnataka’s judicial history and one of the most shameful in the annals of journalism. The home minister, Acharya’s sons have a website that drips with fundamentalist venom. The man who wrote one of the most vicious articles against the Christian community has recently been awarded a PhD by the Karnataka University on the recommendation of the state education minister. The editor of the paper, Vijaya Karnataka, who published this and dozens of similar articles and editorials, was also recommended for a PhD by the same politician .When the matter was brought to the notice of the governor and the university was asked how such a man could qualify for an honorary doctorate, the guilty vice-chancellor and his team removed the award from the convocation agenda on the eve of the convocation. Despite two FIRs (first information reports) against these two individuals for inciting communal disharmony, the Mangalore police openly admit that they were directed by Acharya himself not to proceed and to close the cases. Another newspaper in the city of Mangalore has been regularly targeting the Muslim community by publishing the most offensive articles and the state government is protecting this editor despite prosecuting others who did so and caused communal riots and curfew over the last few weeks. If this is not a total butchery of the principles of secularism, nothing else is. (Chapter XVII, The Editor, Seetaram Case – Attacks on the Media)

(The ‘Report of the People’s Tribunal Inquiry: State Terrorism – Tyranny (A Report on the Attacks on Minorities and their Places of Worship in Karnataka)’ by Justice Michael F. Saldanha, published by People’s Union for Civil Liberties, South Kanara and Transparency International India, Karnataka chapter, was released in February 2011.)