By Verghese V Joseph –
Bengaluru: Another incident of high-handedness against the Christian community has been reported from a rural village near Bengaluru city, the capital of Karnataka state. This time, at St. Joseph Church, Mahima Betta (Mount of Glory) in Dodddasagarahalli village of Devanahalli taluk of Bengaluru, a 12-feet high statue of Jesus Christ atop the hill was unceremoniously removed by the local authorities on Tuesday morning.
Mahima Betta is the burial place of Christians of the area. Situated on 4.5 acres of land, allotted by the Government of Karnataka for burial. This place was graced with a 12-feet statue of Lord Jesus Christ and other smaller statues.
During the weeks before Good Friday and Easter, Christians have prayers and devotions called the Way of the Cross conducted to meditate on the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, and also for Reconciliation prayers, etc. These practices have been going on for the last 30 to 40 years without any difficulty.
The issue spilled over recently when the Christian community there have allegedly been told not to utilise four-and-a-half acres that has been allocated for a cemetery. On Wednesday, local authorities visited the spot for inspection and they removed the statue of Sacred Heart of Jesus and the 14 crosses that form the part of the ‘Stations of the Cross’ worship.
Saddened, Says Bengaluru Archbishop
Reacting strongly to the issue, Bengaluru Archbishop Most Rev (Dr.) Peter Machado, in a statement said, “There is absolutely no problem from the local people to our burials, nor our prayers and devotions on the hill. While the Christians attend these prayers and devotions, the others are not forbidden to visit this place. About a week back, some people from outside have been creating tensions by spreading wrong rumours that the place is used for conversion, which is completely far from the truth.”
“At recent public meeting that was held in the presence of the tahsildar and police officials, the local villagers have publicly said that the presence of Christians and their prayers are absolutely no problem for them and, this being the case, why should some outsiders come and disturb the harmony of the village?” the prelate questioned.
According to Fr Mathew Kottayil CMF, parish priest of St. Joseph’s Church, “The department people didn’t give us a chance when we tried to explain. They removed the 14 ‘Stations of the Cross’ and the statue of Sacred Heart atop the hill. This is an act of grave injustice to our faith and to the 60 families residing nearby.”
Expressing unhappiness, the Archbishop said, “It is very sad, unfortunate and regrettable that the police, bowing to the pressure of a few outsiders, have forcefully removed the statue of Lord Jesus. It is a blow to the communal harmony of the peoples in our villages and also violation of the religious freedom guaranteed to us by the Indian Constitution. If there is an instance of forceful conversion, let the Government investigate and take action. But it will not bring credit to the Government and to the local authorities to unnecessarily interfere in the religious tenets and practices of Christians by yielding to the pressure of some groups.”
“As everyone is quite aware that Christians are peace loving people, who obey the rules of the country, and they render their selfless service to the nation in the best possible ways, irrespective of caste, colour or religion. The Christians of Bangalore consider the forceful removal of the statue of Lord Jesus at our legally allotted burial ground at Doddasagarhalli as unacceptable and are greatly shocked and we condemn this high-handed action of the local authorities,” the archbishop stressed.
‘Reinstall the Statue’
The archbishop then told that, “Christians want the existing statue of Jesus Christ that was unceremoniously removed to be reinstalled immediately. We firmly believe that the State Government will instruct the local authorities to do this redressal act immediately. We request the authorities to take action against the perpetrators of such acts that have caused pain to the community.”
Dr Machado also urged his faithful to pray for who have committed this henious act. “As we are in the Holy Season of Lent, we pray for those who have done this desecration deed at Mahima Betta in Doddasagarhalli with the same words of Jesus Christ, who prayed from the Cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”‘
This incident follows close on the heels of an earlier one over the allotment of land for installation of a Jesus Christ statue atop Kapala Betta in Kanakapura in Bengaluru. At that time, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Hindu Jagarana Vedike, and other groups had raised objections to the project and the government had asked the district administration to look into the land allotment.
The Ramanagaram district administration had submitted its report in February on the legality of allotment of 10 acres to Harobele Kapala Betta Development Trust. The administration is learnt to have said that there has been no illegality or violation in allotment of land.
“We are happy that the government has done a sincere job of finding the real antecedent. It shows that we have obtained the land legally and most requirement and obligation have been fulfilled. Our stand seems to be vindicated,” Dr. Machado had said then.
Dr Machado had expressed hoped that this would put to rest all speculations about the statue and said that the community would be grateful if the government also contributed to the project.