BANGALORE: The Federation of Karnataka State Christian Organisations/Associations announced at a press conference on Thursday that they would stage a rally on Saturday to protest for the rights of Christians.

In the meeting chaired by president of the federation, David Simeon, the federation members said that Christians had been ignored as a group by the government in every developmental venture and insisted that this was true even when considering minority issues. They also felt that this has been so because the Christian community had believed in doing it the quiet way so far.

The federation was born of the joining together of over 20 associations and organisations including the Karnataka Catholic Christians Association, Karnataka Baptist Churches Union and Karnataka Dalit Christians Federation.

The federation was formed to give a united and heterogeneous strength to the scattered Christian minorities.

"We are not a political organisation. We include people from different political loyalties within the federation but the federation is a Christian organisation and David Simeon has been accepted by all of us as our Christian leader," says Joseph Manoharan, vice president.

He added that the time had come for the community to raise their voices a bit higher while still being peaceful.

The federation will organise a State Level Christians Convention and Press for their rightful demands on August 11 at the Corporation Grounds, Shivajinagar by bringing together Christians of different denominations on the same platform.

The federation will also present before the Chief Minister S.M. Krishna a memorandum of their demands while referring to the huge marginalisation of the community. They will also request for the establishment of a Christian Development Board for all round development of the community and special reservation for appointments in government boards and corporations along with atleast two ministerial berths in the cabinet.