B. K. Somasekhara is a retired judge of the Karnataka High Court in India.
B. K. Somasekhara is a retired judge of the Karnataka High Court in India.
Justice Somasekhara was appointed head of a commission of inquiry instituted in 2008 by the Government of Karnataka to inquire into the 2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka. The commission, which was appointed in late 2008, submitted its report in January 2011.
The commission did not find evidence of any involvement of the state government or the police in the attacks. Nor did it find evidence of a cover-up. Many prominent Christians, including sitting and former judges like M. F. Saldanha had expressed the belief that both complicity and cover-up did happen during the disturbances, basing their belief on hearsay. They had hoped that the commission of inquiry would produce proof endorsing their belief, but this did not happen. [1] [2] [3] [4] Somasekhara concluded in most cases that the district authorities and the police had taken the "appropriate steps regarding the Church and the persons including the required protection." He concluded that the attacks were "carried out by misguided elements following circulation of literature which insulted Hindu Gods and reports of conversion activity by some Christian groups." The report also exonerated the catholic church of misdemeanor, saying that "the Roman Catholic church and its leaders were not involved in conversion." [5]
The Archbishop of Bangalore, Bernard Moras, "rejected" the Somasekhara report, saying that "it has failed to address the terms of reference of the Commission and has failed to do justice to the Christian community." [6] He demanded that the state government launch a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the attacks, also saying that "we will make a representation to the government putting forth our demand. We will make a representation to the chief minister, the governor, various organisations including the Human Rights and the Central government". [6] However, Uday Kumar Shetty, the president of the district unit of the BJP, approved of the report, believing that the report was correct in its assertion that the Sangh Parivar were not involved in the attacks. [7]
The report by this Judge was completed dismissed by the cabinet of Karnataka due to being compromised [8] and other observers called it unfair and funny. [9]
Mangalore, officially known as Mangaluru, is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about 352 km (219 mi) west of Bangalore, the state capital, 14 km north of Karnataka–Kerala border and 297 km south of Goa. Mangalore is the state's only city to have all four modes of transport—air, road, rail and sea. The population of the urban agglomeration was 619,664 according to the 2011 national census of India. It is known for being one of the locations of the Indian strategic petroleum reserves.
Bajrang Dal is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was founded on 1 October 1984 in Uttar Pradesh, and began spreading more in the 2010s throughout India, although its most significant base remains the northern and central portions of the country.
Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha is a Hindu nationalist political party in India.
Anti-Christian violence in India is religiously motivated violence against Christians in India. Human Rights Watch has classified violence against Christians in India as a tactic used by the right-wing Sangh Parivar organizations to encourage and exploit communal violence in furtherance of their political ends. The acts of violence include arson of churches, conversion of Christians by force, physical violence, sexual assaults, murders, rapes, and the destruction of Christian schools, colleges, and cemeteries.
Karavali Ale, meaning "Coastal Waves" in Kannada, is a local Kannada daily newspaper published in Mangalore, Karnataka, India. The publication is owned and managed by its founders B. V. Seetaram and Rohini S. It is edited by Sathish N. Vaidya.
The 2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka were the wave of attacks directed against Christian churches and prayer halls in the Indian city of Mangalore and the surrounding area of southern Karnataka in September and October 2008 by Hindu nationalist organisations such as Bajrang Dal and Sri Ram Sena. The attacks were widely perceived by Christians in southern Karnataka to be revenge from right-wing Hindu nationalist organisations, because Mangalorean Christians had been outspoken about the 2008 anti-Christian attacks in Orissa.
On 24 January 2009, the Sri Ram Sena attacked a group of young women and men in a pub in Mangalore, India. A group of 40 activists of the Sri Rama Sena barged into the pub "Amnesia – The Lounge" and beat up a group of young women and men, claiming the women were violating traditional Indian values. Two of the women were hospitalised. The video of the incident has become one of the most watched clips on YouTube, though how the TV crew happened to be ready at the 'unannounced' attack is not known.
Tulu Nadu State movement is aimed at increasing Tulu Nadu's influence and political power through the formation of separate Tulu Nadu state from Karnataka and Kerala. Tulu Nadu is a region on the south-western coast of India. It consists of the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka and Kasargod district up to the Chandragiri river in Kerala. The Chandragiri River has traditionally been considered a boundary between Tulu Nadu and Kerala from the fourth century AD onwards. The first call for a separate Tulu Nadu state was made just after the Quit India Movement in 1942 by Srinivas Updhyaya Paniyadi, a banker and a press owner from Udupi. Mangalore is the largest and the chief city of Tulu Nadu. Tulu activists have been demanding a separate Tulu Nadu state since the late 2000s, considering language and culture as the basis for their demand.
Adoration Monastery of the Sisters of St-Clare is a Christian monastery in Hampankatta, Mangalore, Karnataka, India, near Milagres Church. On 14 Sept 2008, the 2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka broke out here, quickly followed by some 13 others within one hour. The attacks began when a group of some 15 youths on motorbikes from the suspected Hindu organisation of Bajrang Dal arrived at the chapel at around 10:15 AM, IST, shouting a pro-Bajrang Dal slogan. They entered the monastery and attacked it with lathis, desecrating the tabernacle and the Eucharist, the monstrance, a crucifix, the oil lamps, the vases on the altar and a few statues of saints. A couple praying in the church at the time were also reportedly beaten by the intruders. Two nuns were also reportedly injured.
Michael Francis Saldanha, popularly known as M. F. Saldanha, is an Indian judge and former Justice of the Bombay High Court. Although retired from official duty, he conducted an unofficial investigation into the 2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka and was outspoken against the protests and published a report in early 2011 investigating the attacks on Christian institutions and people, written up after he visited 413 locations, examined 673 witnesses and 2,114 victims of the attacks. He was strongly critical of the state government and police in his Saldanha Commission report and described the attacks as "state-sponsored terrorism" and concluded that "the attacks and incidents which took place were instigated and pre-planned. They were not only supported by the state but were also covered up for by the state." He was also critical of the official Bharatiya Janata Party government investigation and report into the attacks by B. K. Somasekhara, given that he said there was photographic and video evidence of police misconduct which the government commission had not identified.
Mahendra Kumar was the convener of the Karnataka, India, branch of the Bajrang Dal, an Indian Hindu youth organisation. He was reportedly involved in the 2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka on 14 September 2008. He claimed that he was incarcerated for 42 days in Mangalore before being released on conditional bail by Karnataka High Court Justice Ashok B. Hinchigeri on 25 October 2008, and was used as a scapegoat by the Bharatiya Janata Party regime to "save the government from further embarrassment after the church attacks and on instructions from the Sangh Parivar leaders."
Catholic Association of South Kanara (CASK), formerly South Kanara Catholic Association, is a Christian organisation based in Mangalore, India.
The United Christian Forum for Human Rights (UCFHR) is a coalition of Christian organizations in India that was formed in 2014 with the aim of advocating for the rights of Christians and other religious minorities in the country.
On 28 July 2012, activists belonging to the Hindu Jagarana Vedike affiliated with the Sangh Parivar, allegedly attacked a birthday party at an unlicensed homestay in Mangalore, Karnataka.
The International Federation of Karnataka Christian Associations (IFKCA) is an organization that represents Christian associations in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is active in addressing the concerns of the Christian minority in the state, which has been subject to repeated attacks by extremists.
The 2008 Kandhamal violence refers to widespread violence against Christians purportedly incited by Hindutva organisations in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, India, in August 2008 after the murder of the Hindu monk Lakshmanananda Saraswati. According to government reports the violence resulted in at least 39 Christians killed and 3906 Christian houses completely destroyed. Reports state, more than 395 churches were razed or burnt down, over 5,600 – 6,500 houses plundered or burnt down, over 600 villages ransacked and more than 60,000 – 75,000 people left homeless. Other reports put the death toll at nearly 100 and suggested more than 40 women were sexually assaulted. Unofficial reports placed the number of those killed to more than 500. Many Christian families were burnt alive. Thousands of Christians were forced to convert to Hinduism under threat of violence. Many Hindu families were also assaulted in some places because they supported the Indian National Congress (INC) party. This violence was led by the Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the VHP.
Mangalore Assembly constituency is one of the Karnataka Legislative Assemblies or Vidhan Sabha constituencies in Karnataka, India which belongs to Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency. Mangalore constituency along with Mangalore City South and Mangalore City North represents the Mangalore City. The constituency has a majority of religious minorities, with 45% Muslims and 6% Christians.
The 2007 Christmas violence in Kandhamal violence refers to the violence that occurred during the Christmas of 2007 between the groups led by Sangh Parivar together with the Sangh-affiliated Kui Samaj and the Christians in the Kandhamal district of Odisha.
Hindu Jagarana Vedike is a right wing Indian Hindu activist group affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). It is National Volunteer Association for men to protect the Hindus. Its stated objective is "to organise, consolidate the Hindu society and to serve and protect. the Hindu Dharma The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. The main task of this organization is to stop atrocities against animals. It has many branches in different states of India. The HJV is considered a member of the Sangh Parivar group an umbrella term for Hindu nationalist organisations led by the RSS.
At the beginning of February 2022, a dispute pertaining to school uniforms was reported in the Indian state of Karnataka, when some Muslim students of a junior college who wanted to wear hijab to classes were denied entry on the grounds that it was a violation of the college's uniform policy which was also followed by the other religion students as well. Over the following weeks, the dispute spread to other schools and colleges across the state, with groups of Hindu students staging counter-protests by demanding to wear saffron scarves. On 5 February, the Karnataka government issued an order stating that uniforms must be worn compulsorily where policies exist and no exception can be made for the wearing of the hijab. Several educational institutions cited this order and denied entry to Muslim girls wearing the hijab.
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