Bangalore, Jan. 31 :    Bangalore, Jan. 31:  A Karnataka minister today resigned after saying that the earthquake that devastated Gujarat was divine retribution for ill-treatment of Christians there. 'Whatever I said yesterday has embarrassed the government. I am resigning to avoid any further controversy to the government and to the Congress, which believes in secular principles,' T. John, minister of infrastructure and civil aviation, told reporters. John said in a speech televised yesterday that 'the catastrophe that has struck Gujarat is God's way of punishing people there for ill-treating Christians and other minorities'. 'Injustice was done to our people. Churches were destroyed in Gujarat. For this injustice, God has punished them,' the minister said at a function organised by a Christian organisation, Good News Society for Global Peace. The function, and John's remarks, were telecast live by the regional Kannada channel ETV. Gujarat witnessed a spate of attacks on churches and prayer meetings during in 1998, triggering concerns about the safety of the Christian community there. Dangs, the area which bore the brunt of the attacks on Christians, was among the few regions spared by the killer quake. The Global Council of Indian Christians expressed regret over John's comment. The council's convener, Sajjan George, said: 'This is certainly not the view of the Church. The Church never talks of punishment. It emphasises on forgiveness.' John, who represents the hill district of Coorg, is a liquor baron from Kerala and also runs a chain of educational institutions. He was sucked into a controversy last year when his name was linked to the Kerala hooch tragedy, a charge he has vehemently denied. John's resignation came after a delegation of angry BJP leaders met chief minister S.M. Krishna and demanded that he drop him from the council of ministers. Former BJP state president B.S. Yediyurappa said criminal proceedings should be begun against John as he had sowed the seeds of communal tension. The minister said he was quitting the government because 'I don't want to give room to anyone to draw political mileage'. He, however, refused to say whether he resigned on his own or was asked to do so by the chief minister. Sources close to Krishna said the chief minister, keen not to tarnish his progressive image, summoned John this morning and 'gave him a dressing down'. 'There was no option but to seek his resignation, John sealed his own fate,' the sources added. Krishna and his senior ministerial colleagues watched video footage of yesterday's function before asking John to resign. The BJP, however, is trying to extract maximum political mileage. The party said that John's resignation notwithstanding, it would organise a state-wide bandh if the government did not order his arrest. 'He should be arrested. Otherwise we will hold a state-wide bandh on Friday,' Yediyurappa said.