Hindu Extremist Bomb Churches in India

[Abdur_Rahman]

BANGALORE, India, July 10 (Reuters) - A bomb exploded outside a church in southern India on Sunday night, the second such incident in two days and the latest in a series of attacks on the country"s minority Christian community.

A police official said there were no casualties but the church windows were shattered and a wall was damaged by the crude, low-intensity bomb.

The church is located in Jagjivanram Nagar, a crowded working-class district in the heart of Bangalore, capital of the southern state of Karnataka.

Police had earlier said there were two blasts on the premises of Saint Peter"s and Paul Church around 10.30 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Sunday.

"We had first believed that two simultaneous explosions had rocked the church but subsequent investigations have revealed it was a single blast," a senior Bangalore police official told Reuters.

Worshippers who had earlier gathered for a festival had dispersed by the time the bomb went off.

Angry Christians later gathered in front of the church and threw stones at a few passing vehicles before dispersing.

On Saturday, a bomb exploded outside a church in Hubli, some 400 km (250 miles) north of Bangalore. Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna blamed the blast on a "lunatic fringe."

Last month, bombs exploded in four churches in Karnataka and the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Goa and a Roman Catholic priest was murdered in the northern town of Mathura.

The Karnataka chief minister told reporters on Monday that the Corps of Detectives of the state police would now take over the investigation into the three blasts in the state.

Karnataka Home (Interior) Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge said the provincial government would provide security to churches throughout the state.

Christians make up around two percent of India"s billion strong population. Hindus account for around 80 percent.

India"s church leaders have condemned the violence and accused the coalition government, which is led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of failing to protect the country"s minority communities.

Missionaries in India often blame the attacks on right-wing Hindu groups, some of which are considered close to the BJP. Hindu groups deny the accusations and say Christian missionaries sometimes cause resentment by forcing tribal people in remote areas to convert.