Hundreds of Hindus, affiliated with India’s ruling nationalist party, rallied today against a giant statue of Christ to be set up in a village whose majority are Christians.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been accused by its rivals of intolerance towards other religions. The opposition also accuses it of wanting to turn India into a Hindu state.
Christians in India make up about 2% of the population. In Karnataka they are less than 1% of the 65 million people of this state.
In 2008, a series of attacks by Hindus, who accused Christians of trying to convert people, have been made on Christians and churches in Karnataka. Six members of a Hindu organization were arrested last year for attacking a group of Christian pilgrims in the state.
Source: ANA-MPA