Former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, Ashwath Narayan CN, has dismissed the reports of the attacks on the Christian community in the state and said the videos of the incidents “might be fabricated".
Ever since the state cabinet started discussing the anti-conversion bill, at least seven attacks by right-wing vigilantes have come to light. Incidents of burning the religious books, to attacking the church and its members have been reported.
To the reports of these attacks, Ashwath Narayan said those are “baseless allegations” and added, "We are the most peaceful state -- Karnataka. There is no question of attacking churches or Christians. They are part and parcel of our society," in a conversation with NDTV.
Recently, in a shocking incident, an unknown person attempted to attack a church priest with a sword in the Belagavi district. The visuals of the entry and exit of the attacker were caught on CCTV.
Ashwath Narayan dismissed the claims of the videos and said it could be between “individual to individual.”
"Some people might have created it to create this kind of perception, this kind of campaign. It can be created by anybody... Some people with vested interests are creating this kind of campaign," he added.
Even though the church leaders have been blaming the state’s anti-conversion bill for these attacks, Ashwath Narayan denied the links between the attacks and the bill.
He said that the anti-conversion bill is only a “thought going on in the government to work in this direction, to regulate,” which has not yet been put out in the assembly for discussion.
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(Published 15 December 2021, 09:10 IST)
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