Apologise for anti-Christian remarks: CM tells legislator

IANS

Bangalore, 25 August 2010: Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa on Wednesday said he had directed his party legislator Prahlad Remani to apologise for his anti-Christian statements on Independence Day. 

 
"If he does not tender an apology to the Christian community for his statements, action will be taken against him," Yeddyurappa told reporters in Belgaum, around 500 km from here.

Remani, member of the assembly from Khanapur in Belguam district, is reported to have said in his speech after unfurling the national flag at Khanapur that Christians must be weeded out.

Archbishop of Bangalore Bernard Moras had taken up the issue with Yeddyurappa and Governor H.R. Bhardwaj and expressed deep regret about such statements being made against the Christian community.

According to Moras, Remani had stated: "There are two things the British left in India after they left, the first one is the partition of the nation and the second one is the seeds of Christianity that are being spread systematically by the Christians through their institutions. People must remain aware and watchful about the spread of these seeds of Christianity and followers of any religion, including Hindus and others, must weed out Christianity."

He told Bhardwaj and Yeddyurappa that this information was based on a report submitted to him by Belgaum Bishop Peter Machado.Remani is reported to have stood by his statements when mediapersons asked him about it at Belgaum.

The legislator told reporters that "Christians under the guise of social service are luring villagers in Khanapur taluk and are engaged in conversions".

Karnataka, once known for communal peace, has in recent years seen increasing attacks on churches in several places, particularly in Bangalore and the coastal town of Mangalore, over alleged attempts at conversion.

The Karnataka government has set up a commission headed by retired judge of the state high court B.K. Somasekhara to probe attacks on churches in Dakshina Kannada, of which Mangalore is the main town, and other places in September 2008. The Commission is to give its report in about two months.