ANTI CONVERSION BILL IS ANTI CHRISTIAN BILL

Rising attacks on Christians are part of a broader shift in India, in which minorities feel unsafe. Anti-Christian vigilantes are sweeping through villages, storming churches, burning Christian literature, attacking schools and assaulting worshipers. Matias Perttula, advocacy director at International Christian Concern said, Christians are being suppressed, discriminated and persecuted at rising levels like never before in India. A fact finding report by United Christian Forum claimed that Karnataka is witnessing one of the highest incidents of attack against Christians due to government’s “attitude”. Karnataka ranks third among states with the most number of attacks on the community and their places of worship in India. Recently, a 150-year-old church was allegedly vandalized by RSS goons. The miscreants vandalized the statue of St Antony, at St Joseph’s church, in Susaipalaya area. The incident came hours before the Karnataka legislative assembly passed the contentious “anti-conversion bill”. The provisions of the bill have stringent clauses that even doing charity work would be a crime. Even giving free education or a fee waiver to help poor students can be treated as a violation of the law. Anti-conversion laws are part of BJP’s playbook to use religion as a force to polarize the masses and win votes from the Hindu majority. BJP tabled the controversial Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021, in the state assembly. A group of Christians staged a protest against the bill in Bengaluru. They fear an increase in violence against them and attacks on their institutions if the proposed law comes into force. Archbishop Peter Machado said that “the anti-conversion bill is anti-Christian” as it “does target Christians specifically.”