The Karnataka government under Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is mulling over bringing an anti-religious conversion bill to stop the menace of involuntary conversion that has plagued the southern state of the country. However, a delegation of Catholic bishops of Karnataka, led by Archbishop of Bangalore Reverend Peter Machado, met Bommai on Wednesday and voiced their concern against the anti-Conversion bill. The Bishop during the meeting, handed over a memorandum to the Bommai stating that the proposed anti-conversion law was unwarranted, claiming that it will lead to unnecessary communal issues and unrest in Karnataka. They also urged Bommai to establish a Christian Development Board under the government to ensure their welfare and address demands made by the community on various fronts.
Duplicity from the Church?
The double standards of the church come at a time when the Christian missionaries in the neighbouring state of Kerala have been raising the issue of conversion and love jihad vociferously for the better part of the last one and a half years.
As reported by TFI, Kerala’s biggest Church, the Syro-Malabar Church had sounded the alarm last year by claiming that Christian girls were being targeted and killed in the name of Love Jihad.
“It is a matter of concern that ‘love jihad’ is increasing in Kerala causing danger to the secular harmony and societal peace in Kerala,” a Syro-Malabar Media Commission report had claimed. According to multiple reports, the Synod claimed that there was a ‘love jihad’ focused on Christian girls, stating that over half of the 21 women who joined the Islamic State hailed from the Christian community.
Keralites becoming wary of conversion
Moreover, in June, earlier in the year, a clubhouse chat room named “Christian Youths, This Way” was in the news where a section of Christians on the platform indulged in a discussion over the menace of ‘Love Jihad’.
According to a report by the New Indian Express, in the chatroom, some of the speakers raised the delicate issue and allegedly made some communal remarks against the minority community which appears to have irked some of the Muslim leaders.
Read More: Christians and Muslims in Kerala are clashing as more Christians speak openly against Love Jihad
As reported previously by TFI, PC George an independent MLA from Kerala had recently remarked that ‘love jihad’ is real and India must be declared a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ as ‘Muslims plan to make India an Islamic country.
Missionaries at the forefront of conversion: Karnataka Minister
While the church and missionaries continue to deny their role in conversion, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra recently remarked, “To increase their population, some missionaries have been involved in conversions, and the government has been discussing various options to stop conversions through inducement.
Conversion is a big problem in the Hindi heartland as well as the southern states. However, the duplicity of the church in Karnataka to counter the state government’s plan to combat conversion is indeed confounding.
After the Islamists, the missionaries have been at the forefront of the conversion racket and thus, it appears that by coercing the state government, they want to keep their business flowing.