Somasekhara Commission didn't give clean chit to saffron groups'

Mangalore, January 31: Although Justice Somasekhara Commission report on attacks on places of worships in the state is apparently biased and prepared in the interest of the ruling government, no one should forget that it clearly mentioned that Bajarang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishath have directly involved in attack against around ten Christian centres, pointed out Advocate MP Noronha.

He unearthed many contradictions of the final report of the panel report at a debate organised by the Journalists Study Centre at Sahodaya Hall here on Monday.

The other debaters were Mahendra Kumar, the main accused in the Church attack case, VHP leader Jagadish Shenava, who is also the lawyer for Bajarang Dal in the Church Attack case, and Sharan Pampwell, DK district convenor of Bajaranga Dal.

Norohna also said that the final report never gave clean chit to the saffron outfits like Bajaranga Dal and VHP, but evaded from recommending any legal action against such groups.

He observed that political pressure seems to be the main reason for the contradictions between the interim report, which held the state government and saffron outfits responsible for the attacks, and final report, which tried to protect the ruling party and its backers in the state.

Mahendra Kumar, who was the State Convenor of Bajarang Dal during the attack against Christian religious centres, termed them as “attack against the centres of conversion,” saying that propaganda made by some Christian groups naturally provoked Hindus. He said that booklets like 'Satya-Darshini', which unleashed hatred against Hinduism resulted in the attacks.

Terming the panel report as a source of confusion and extravagant delivery, Mahendra Kumar said one need not to give importance to this report as this cannot be equivalent to a verdict.

“Somasekhara took nearly two and a half years, wasting over Rs 2.5 crore to prepare a lot of confusion,” he said.

Brushing aside the allegation that 'Satya-Darshini' led to the attack, Noronha said that the booklet was found in Dakshina Kannada at the end of 2009, i.e., more than a year after the attack.

While sticking to his stand that the attitude of some Christian groups provoked the Hindus, Mahendra declined to answer a question that whether Sangh Parivar or Bajarang Dal had directly involved in the attack, saying “Now I am not in the Sangh Parivar”

He also accused the state government of making him the scapegoat and misusing 'Hindutva' for political reasons. “There is a clear line between political Hindutva and honest Hindutva and I prefer latter to former, while BJP has shamelessly chosen the former,” Mahendra Kumar said.

He also accused the BJP of misusing the activists of honest Hindutva to achieve their selfish ends.

Sharan Pumpwell said that the Bajarang Dal does not indulge in any anti-constitutional activities and works for the interest of Hindu society under the guidance of VHP and RSS. He said that all the allegations made against his organisation and other Hindu outfits were baseless as far as Church attacks are concerned.

Dubbing the attacks as tit for tat, he said because of the Christian missionaries many families had been“ruined” in the Hindu society. To elaborate on the word “ruin”, he gave an example that age-old parents of a Hindu family had converted to Christianity, while their children are still practicing Hinduism. “Those who were attacked by the Christians, naturally responded to it in the form of attack against the centres of conversion” he added.