Global Council of Indian Hindus

An Indian Hindu leader has said it is time to weed out Christianity.

Hindu BJP nationalist leader Prahlad Remani, a state lawmaker, has insisted Christianity in the State of Karnataka be stamped out.

Making a statement at India's Independence Day celebrations this week, he said the "seeds of Christianity" should be weeded if the state was to stop the religion from spreading.

He said: "The followers of any religion, including the Hindus and others, must weed out Christianity."

On the same day as the speech, two Protestant clergymen were detained by police.

The two clergymen had been conducting a religious service in Karnataka, when 30 Hindu militants burst into the building where the meeting was taking place.

Police moved in soon after.

But instead of arresting the Hindu troublemakers, they arrested the two clergymen and about ten members of the congregation.

The two clergymen were held on proselytising charges.

Asia News reported that after Remani's Independence Day speech, Sajan Kavinkalath George, the national chairman of the Global Council of Indian Christians, said: "If the elected members of the State Assembly indulge in such inflammatory speeches which are intended to disrupt communal harmony, what can be expected of the lumpen elements who have their tacit support to carry out their threats and violence against the vulnerable minority Christian community."

Since the BJP came to power there have been over 200 anti-Christian incidents in Karnataka, where there are about a million Christians out of a total population of 53 million.