Miscreants Vandalise Church, Replace Cross With Saffron Flag in Karnataka

The incident happened on 1 May, at the Emmanuel Assembly of God Church.

Miscreants allegedly vandalised a church, in Dakshina Kannada's Kadaba Taluk's Peradka area.

(Photo: The Quint)

A complaint was registered after miscreants vandalised a church, in Dakshina Kannada's Kadaba Taluk's Peradka area.

The incident happened on Sunday, 1 May, at the Emmanuel Assembly of God Church, where some miscreants allegedly brought down the cross that was on top of the church and hoisted a saffron flag in its place.

The complaint by Fr Jose Verghese bin Varghese alleged that miscreants broke open the door of the church and entered the premises illegally.

"They destroyed the cross on the top of the church building intentionally and installed a saffron flag there. In addition, they kept the photo of Lord Hanuman inside the church," the complaint said.

"The hooligans also stole the electrical bulbs and irrigation pump and pipes worth Rs 14,000. On the night of May 4, the miscreants cut the service wires from the electric pole that was installed on the church building and took the electrical meter box."

Fr Jose Verghese bin Varghese, Complainant

"The church is paying tax to the municipality for the past 30 years. So kindly take suitable action against the miscreants who entered the church illegally and damaged its property," he stated in the complaint.

In a video footage, a member of the church, showed the extent of the damage. He also said that construction work for the Emmanuel AG Church has been underway, adding that the premises were being maintained by a certain Devadasan and his family.

Meanwhile, VHP and Bajrang Dal activists claimed that the church land belonged to private owner. They claimed that the Christian community was illegally constructing the church on the land.

"This land belongs to Vishwanath Gowda. This farming land was allotted to him by the government. We have observed that some people have illegally come and started constructing a building here. It was rightly pointed out that the land was given out for lease. But the Christian community here wants to make a graveyard and also build a church."

VHP and Bajrang Dal Activists

They also claimed that outsiders are behind the alleged illegal construction.

"They destroyed the entire farming land and converted it into a community place. This is not the job of the locals. This is being done by outsiders who belong to the the Christian community. If the construction of the Church goes ahead then the entire Hindu community will come together and fight against this," the activists said.

Responding to the media, SP of Dakshina Kannada Rishikesh Sonawane said, "A case was registered on complaint filed by pastor of Emmanuel Assembly of God Church, Peradka in Dakshina Kannada regarding damage caused to the cross at top of church by unknown miscreants where they hoisted saffron flag on May 1. The FIR has been filed and we are trying to arrest the people who are responsible for this."