Security for Karnataka churches

The Christian community is angry in Karnataka

Security has been tightened at places of worship of the minority Christian community after attacks on churches in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

Police and security guards have been deployed outside churches and prayer halls, officials said.

On Monday, the Archbishop of Bangalore city told the state government that the community felt "very hurt".

In the past week, more than 20 churches have been desecrated by the Hindu hardline group Bajrang Dal.

The group's leader in the state, Mahendra Kumar, is under arrest.

He has admitted his group carried out the initial attacks on churches in the state, saying Hindus were being illegally converted to Christianity in the area.

Christian leaders have denied the charge and said that the state's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was inciting violence instead of calming the tense situation in the state.

Christians say lower-caste Hindus convert willingly to escape the Hindu caste system.

Anger

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa has been severely criticised for failing to prevent the desecration of churches, including two in the state capital, Bangalore.

On Monday, he ordered the deployment of police and guards outside churches.

The chief minister said those responsible for the attacks would be prosecuted under the tough "Goonda Act" which provides for detention for three months.

The Church in Karnataka is 'wounded', the archbishop says

However, the Christian community's anger manifested itself at a meeting between Mr Yeddyurappa and Bangalore's Archbishop Bernard Moraes.

"We are very hurt. I am saying it publicly. What will you do if a temple is destroyed," the Archbishop asked the chief minister?

"The Church in Karnataka is wounded," he said.

The archbishop has demanded action against those responsible for the acts of vandalism as well as against policemen who allegedly assaulted nuns, women and children during a protest by the Christian community.

Police arrested more than 100 protestors accused of turning violent after several churches were vandalised in the coastal city of Mangalore, 350 km (217 miles) from Bangalore, on 14 September.

Christian leader and MP HT Sangliana has said the government had to act against Hindu militant groups like the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

He has criticised the government for its failure to rein in radical Hindu groups who have taken to violence in the name of fighting conversions.

The BJP government has denied the charge and said more than 270 people have been arrested.

Recent anti-Christian violence in Karnataka - and in the eastern state of Orissa - have led to calls for a ban on the Bajrang Dal and VHP.

Orissa has seen anti-Christian violence for several weeks now.

At least 20 people - most of them Christians - were killed after a Hindu religious leader there was shot dead.