Davangere is a prominent city and educational center located 260 kilometers north of Bangalore city in Karnataka, India. The Christian church has not been able to make considerable inroads in this district, but for the last few years the church has been able to make its presence felt in the town as well as in the interiors of Davangere. Several pastors are now serving the Lord in and around the Davangere district. Davangere has all groups of people from Brahmins, Dalits, Goldrus, Talavar Nayakar, Lambadis, Lingayats as well as Gowdas.
In the last week of August, violence against the Christian church broke out for the first time in this district. The Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishath (VHP) have lashed out their attacks against churches and their pastors. They are accusing them of “forcible conversion,” as well as “degrading Hindu gods.” This attack, which later spread to various other parts of Karnataka including Bangalore and Mangalore (where damage was severe), should be seen in the light of the ruling BJP’s celebrations of marking 100 days of being in power in Karnataka. It should then be understood that the attacks against the Christian minority in the state carried the blessings of the ruling party as well as the state government.
Attacks against churches in Davangere began with about 200 men seizing and damaging the Christian Assembly Church in Davangere. It soon spread to other parts of the district where pastors were caught and beaten severely. The pastors were then brought to police stations where they were locked up with the charges of “forcible conversion” and “provoking speeches that caused communal violence.” At least ten pastors were locked up for the next three to four days in this district, who were then released through personal bails amounting to an extent of Rs.15,000.00 per bail (US $350.00). Church buildings were damaged, some were seized, others were knocked down, believers were threatened, and all this continued for the next three weeks. Churches were not allowed to have worship services for the following weeks as police, militant activists, and other government officials joined together and worked in tandem against the church. Even to this day, many churches are locked up by the corporation and the police. All pastors in Davangere had to flee for their life as the Bajrang Dal activists repeatedly visited and threatened them and believers in each village where there was a church. Police never intervened on the scene to give protection to the churches until matters grew severe as the government felt real heat through the protests of the Christian church, as well as the repeated warnings issued by the central government in the second and third weeks of September.
It was then on the 23rd of September in Davangere when a protest against the violence and attacks on the church was initiated by all religious and minority representative groups. Since the officials did not give permission to hold a massive protest in the city, it was decided to have a protesting assembly on one of the city grounds. The assembly was called “Protest Against Attacking Minorities,” where representation was made from all major religious groups, political parties, the Raitha Sangha (farmers union), and other minorities such as the Dalits and OBC, apart from the Christians.
The assembly convened at 11:00 a.m. and ended around 4.00 p.m. in the evening. A strong gathering of around 4,000 people attended this enormous protest meeting. It was also attended by three Hindu religious heads, heads of the Muslim community, as well as distinguished people from the media.
All have condemned the attacks against the Christian church with very strong language and reprimanded the Bajrang Dal as well as Chief Minister Mr. Yedyurappa for the misconduct against the church. Mr. Yedyurappa was greatly condemned and criticized for his lukewarm response as violence got out of hand.
The message was for communal peace and harmony while urging everyone to refrain from any forcible conversion. The pastors who were given an opportunity to share on the dais clearly expressed their pain and objected to the false accusations saying that the church never engaged in forcible conversion, but only sharing the love of Jesus to people around them.
A group of about 12 pastors journeyed from Bangalore to Davangere to attend this important protest and to show solidarity and support to the pastors and churches in the city. The delegation was led by Pastor Yeshwanth Kumar of the Shekinah House of Prayer & Praise, Bro. Kumaraswamy of the All India Christian Council (AICC), and Pastor Ebenezer George of the Full Gospel Church in India.
After the meeting ended and lunch was served, the delegation moved to visit the Full Gospel Assembly Church (of Pastor Prem Kumar) in the city where the trouble first began. Mr. Venkataswamy, leader of Dalit organizations, as well as Prof. Rajendra, a prominent social activist who arranged this important meeting, briefed about the need of the hour and stressed the importance of the cooperation and solidarity of the Christian church with other minority groups and religions (especially the Dalits) to fight against the anti-social elements like the Bajrang Dal and VHP in Karnataka. They hope that in the future, no such atrocities would be carried out by such groups against the Christians, as well as other minorities in the country.
This all important protest meeting was successful because of the participation of all religious heads and people from all walks of life. The pastors and their churches in Davangere will rest assured knowing that they will now be adequately backed up and protected by the people.
Rev. Ebenezer A. George, Senior Pastor, Full Gospel Church – India
© 2008 Church of God World Missions
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