On 30th October 2026, Archbishop of Bangalore, Peter Machado, urged the Congress government in Karnataka to fulfil its promise of repealing the state’s anti-conversion law. During a media interaction in Bengaluru, Peter Machado said that a meeting of minority communities, Dalit communities, and farmer communities was called to press their demands pertaining to the repeal of the anti-conversion law in the state.
A day prior to the meeting, the Karnataka United Christian Forum for Human Rights issued a statement identifying three priority areas requiring government intervention, including religious freedom, protection against communal hostility and fulfilment of electoral promises.
c He said that it has been around three years since the Congress Party formed government in the state and that it also has numbers in the State Assembly to repeal the law.
“Today we have called a press conference of the minority communities, the Dalit communities, the farmer communities, especially those that have been experiencing certain difficulties with the laws of the State. First of all, we Christians have come strongly asking the government to repeal the anti-conversion law that was passed in 2022. “…it was passed by the previous government, and this government, which was trying to get into power that time, they have put it in the manifesto that if they came to power, they would withdraw immediately the anti-conversion law as such…” Machado said.
Bengaluru, Karnataka: Archbishop of Bangalore Peter Machado says, "Today we have called a press conference of the minority communities, the Dalit communities, the farmer communities, especially those that have been experiencing certain difficulties with the laws of the State. First of all, we Christians have come strongly asking the government to repeal the anti-conversion law that was passed in 2022. And it was passed by the previous government, and this government which was trying to get into power that time, they have put it in the manifesto that if they came to power, they would withdraw immediately the anti-conversion law as such…"
— IANS (@ians_india) October 30, 2026
In addition to the anti-conversion law, Peter Machado also said that the Congress government had made promises to different communities, including the Muslim community, regarding the anti-cow slaughter bills. He alleged that “it doesn’t look to be very good on their part because Muslims and farmers are suffering because of it.”
He then claimed that ageing cattle needed to be taken care of and “if they cannot go to cowsheds…,” insinuating that slaughterhouses were the only other destination. “In some places, the government has done it. It’s okay,” he added.
In September this year, Machado took a Christian delegation to visit Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge at his Bengaluru home, where Kharge’s son and Karnataka home minister, Priyank Kharge, was also present. The delegation sought the abolition of the state’s anti-conversion law and a special 1% reservation for the community.
Peter Machado’s public expression of discontent over the anti-conversion law and anti-cow slaughter law even though these laws only target illegal practices, has sparked outrage.
Who is Archbishop Peter Machado?
Born in 1954 in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada, Peter Machado became an ordained priest on 8th December 1978 for the Diocese of Karwar.
In February 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Machado the Bishop of Belgaum and ordained him bishop in March 2006.
After serving there for around 12 years, Peter Machado was appointed the Archbishop of Bangalore in March 2018 by Pope Francis.
Archbishop Peter Machado is also President of the Karnataka Regional Catholic Bishops Council and of the All-Karnataka United Forum for Christian Human Rights.
Last year, Machado was elected Vice-President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) and chairs its Commission for Laity.
Machado has consistently been pushing the ‘Christians under attack’ bogey through his speeches, petitions in courts, and engagements with political parties.
In June 2022, the Supreme Court 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.
The petition claimed that about 40-50 attacks, on average, were taking place on Christian institutions each month, alleging that 57 such attacks took place in May 2022 alone.
In January 2020, the Bangalore Archbishop Peter Machado had appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ‘reconsider’ his decision on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Machado’s opposition to the CAA came even though minorities in the Islamic or Muslim-majority countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh faced persecution due to their religious identity, and there’s no way Muslims would be persecuted by Muslims in an Islamic country for being Muslims.
In June 2020, the former judge of the Bombay High Court, Michael 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, then he is certainly accountable.”
In 2020, the Karnataka Catholic Christian Association (AKCCA) accused him of being involved in a multi-million-dollar scam. Pope Francis appointed Machado, a vocal critic of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Bangalore.
In August of that year, the AKCCA demanded a probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the financial misappropriation of Asha Charitable Trust, which is owned by the archdiocese. At a press conference in Bangalore, the group 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 used as promised.
Raj added that the annual audit report highlighted financial irregularities, but the archdiocese ignored it and did not act against the ‘guilty’.
In 2021, Peter Machado was at the forefront of opposing the anti-conversion law in the State of Karnataka. Machado had handed over a memorandum to the Karnataka Chief Minister, saying the proposed anti-conversion law was unwarranted and would lead to ‘unnecessary communal issues’ and ‘unrest’ in Karnataka.
In March 2024, Machado had urged PM Modi to ‘rein in’ his party (BJP) leaders, “who fail to rise above petty politics and hate speeches.”
This came after a parent of a student filed a complaint in February that year at the Mangaluru South police station against a teacher from St. Gerosa Catholic Girls School in Mangaluru for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the Hindu religion, Lord Ram and PM Narendra Modi.
The accused teacher named Prabha was reported to have used curse words against Lord Sri Ram and the Prime Minister while teaching students of class 7 while teaching the chapter ‘Work is worship’ on 8th February.
After the incident, parents, Hindu organisations, and BJP MLA from Dakshin Kannada, Vedavyas Kamath, staged a protest demanding strict action against the accused teacher for making insulting and derogatory remarks about the Hindu religion and trying to convert students to Christianity. Instead of condemning the Christian teacher, Peter Machado vilified BJP leaders for backing Hindu victims.
BJP government enacted an anti-conversion law in Karnataka
The previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government passed the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, 2022. Conversion from one faith to another through “use or practice of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by any of these means or by promise of marriage” is forbidden by law.
Forced conversion is punishable by three to five years in prison and a fine of Rs 25,000.
Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cow Bill 2020
The Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cow Bill 2020, passed by the state’s previous BJP government, took effect in February 2021. According to the Act, slaughtering any cattle, except buffaloes over the age of 13, is a serious offence punishable by up to seven years in prison.
