Bangalore, September 20
The Sunday mass in the churches of Karnataka tomorrow could turn out to be a silent show of protest against the recent attack on them by Hindu fanatics in the state.

“Be watchful on Sunday for disturbances. Write to the SP or DCP of your area alerting them of possible attacks. All Christians must wear black badges this Sunday as a show of silent protest for attacks on the community,” said an appeal issued to the Christians after a press conference here attended by three retired IPS officers, one retired justice of the high court, a filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and three activists of different Christian outfits.

Last night the police in Mangalore arrested Mahendra Kumar, convener of the Karnataka unit of the Bajrang Dal, an outfit that is said to be behind the spate of attacks on churches in the state since last Sunday, besides instituting a judicial inquiry to probe the violence. The steps, though, have failed in pacifying the aggrieved community.

Justice MF Saldanha, who heads the Karnataka chapter of Transparency International, spoke bitterly against the probe and said it could simply be window dressing. “An inquiry should have been set up by the Central Government and a person of consequence, someone like Justice V R Krishna Iyer, should have been heading it”, he said.

Film-maker Mahesh Bhatt, who had visited the affected areas of the state during the last two days, said proselytisation “was a gift of India to the world”. “It was Gautama Buddha who first proselytised people. Since we are so proud of our heritage, we should not forget such things of our past”, he said.

The retired IPS officers present in the meeting were HT Sangliana, MP and former Bangalore city police commissioner, F T R Colaso, former state DGP, and R B Sreekumar, a Gujarat cadre IPS officer, who had run into trouble with Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Abraham Mathai and Joseph Vaz were among the representatives of Catholic institutions present in the press conference. The speakers accused the state government of showing reluctance to act against the fanatics. Police action inside a church in Mangalore was also condemned by them.