The Karnataka state government has extended the term of an inquiry into a series of anti-Christian attacks in 2008. The decision has drawn mixed reactions from local Church leaders.

The government, headed by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, has now given the commission until Oct. 31 to complete its probe into the assaults on Christian people and properties. This is the ninth time the deadline has been extended, although a 500-page interim report was produced in February which indicted Hindu radical groups for the attacks.

The extension “is quite justifiable,” said Bishop Henry D’Souza of Bellary. “The work load of the commission is colossal as it has to handle hundreds of cases relating to the incidents,” he said.

However a leader of the Church of South India, Reverend Manohar Chandra Prasad, expressed concern over the delay in the commission’s work and criticized it “for dragging its feet.”

The one-man commission, led by retired judge B.K. Somashekhara, has received 1,019 petitions and examined nearly 800 witnesses, including representatives of Hindu and Christian organizations, rights activists, police and government officials.

It opened in January 2009 and originally intended to complete its task in six months. Commission secretary N. Vidyashankar said it will “do its best” to finish the probe before the next deadline.

Bishop D’Souza expressed the view that some outside agencies were trying to “interfere and influence” the commission’s work but he hoped that its final report would be “honest and truthful.”

Related reports
Karnataka commission to report in three months
Commission seeks ban on sectarian groups

IB11090.1618