On Monday (June 27), the Supreme Court (SC) of India admitted a plea, which alleged that attacks on Christian priests and Churches have increased in the country. The petition was filed by the National Solidarity Forum, the Evangelical Fellowship of India and Archbishop of Bangalore Diocese, Peter Machado. They were represented in Court by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves.
The petitioners sought an urgent hearing before a 2-Judge Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Surya Kant. Advocate Colin Gonsalves claimed that about 40-50 attacks, on average, were taking place on Christian institutions each month.
He further alleged that 57 such attacks took place in May 2022 alone. Gonsalves had cited the 2018 case of ‘Tehseen S. Poonawalla vs Union Of India’ and sought implementation of apex court guidelines for curbing lynching, cow vigilantism and hate crimes.
The Court had recommended the appointment of nodal officers in each district, setting up of a task force, fast-tracking of trials, compensating the victims, and taking disciplinary action against lax officials.
While posting the matter on July 11, the Supreme Court stated, “What you are saying is unfortunate, if it is happening. What we can ensure is that your matter is listed on the re-opening day itself.”
At a time when ‘manufactured controversies’ such as the ‘Nupur Sharma row’, ‘ organised violence over Agnipath’ and ‘Hijab in schools’ have died down, the usual suspects are working hard on their new campaign of ‘Christians under attack.’
The controversial petitioner in the case
One of the petitioners in the case happens to be Archbishop of Bangalore Diocese, Peter Machado. In January 2020, the Bangalore Archbishop had appealed to the Prime Minister to ‘reconsider’ his decision on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
This was in complete disregard to the fact that the minorities in the Islamic Republics of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh were persecuted on religious lines.
In June of that year, the former judge of Bombay High Court, Micheal F Saldanha, had accused Machado of colluding and covering up murders allegedly committed by Bishop of Mysore KA William. He had accused Peter Machado and Bishop K A William, of ‘criminally misappropriating’ ₹49.5 crores collected for Coorg Disaster Relief work in 2018.
Accusing Machado of misappropriation, ex-Judge Michael F Saldanha wrote, “Perhaps Archbishop Peter Machado can tell us how many night shelters for homeless persons he has constructed because this was one of his appeals made more than a year back at the time of the concert. If it is there in writing in the annexure so he is certainly accountable.”
In the same year, the Karnataka Catholic Christian Association (AKCCA) accused him of being involved in a multi-million dollar scam. Machado, a vocal critic of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), was appointed as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Bangalore by Pope Francis.
On August 28, 2020, AKCCA demanded an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the financial misappropriation of Asha Charitable Trust, which is owned by the archdiocese. The group, in a press conference held at Bangalore, accused the Trust of siphoning off ₹3 billion ($42 million).
“It is a scam worth three billion, and it needs investigation, “AKCCA leader Raphael Raj informed the media. Raj stated that even though the archdiocese collected funds from foreign donors, it was not utilised as promised.
He added that the annual audit report highlighted financial irregularities but the archdiocese ignored it and did not take action against the ‘guilty’. Last year, Peter Machado was at the forefront of opposing the anti-conversion law in the State of Karnataka.
He even handed over a memorandum to the Karnataka chief minister stating the proposed anti-conversion law was unwarranted and will lead to unnecessary communal issues and unrest in Karnataka.
