As Hindutva groups are escalating campaigns against Muslim traders in Karnataka, Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy questioned the silence of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on the developments and threatened to launch a padayatra if he failed to act and bring back communal amity in Karnataka within a month.
Hitting out strongly against increasing instances of religious polarisation, latest being the campaign against halal meat, Mr. Kumaraswamy accused the Chief Minister of willfully keeping silent on these issues.
Vicious campaign
“But I cannot remain silent. When people were dying due to COVID-19, where were these VHP and Bajrang Dal people?” he asked. He said that leaders of Hindutva groups were moving around in towns and villages campaigning against Muslim traders, creating division in society. “Is he (Chief Minister) blind to this?” asked the former Chief Minister, urging him to act before it is too late.
He pointed out that Muslim traders are part of the system in multiple ways and trying to ban them would, eventually, harm the entire agricultural ecosystem. He pointed out that there is a symbiotic relationship between various communities in rural areas in the agricultural economy which will be wrecked by such divisive campaigns. For instance, Muslim traders and Hindu farmers work in co-ordination in mango, grape and silk sectors,” he pointed out.
Kuvempu’s message
“We have accepted Kuvempu’s ‘Jai Bharata Jananiya Tanujate’ as our Nada Geete in which he calls Karnataka ‘Sarva Janangada Shantiya Tota’. But BJP and organisations affiliated to it are destroying the ideals of Kuvempu which is enshrined in our Nada Geete,” Mr. Kumaraswamy said. It is unfortunate that youngsters are falling prey to such campaigns, he added.
Mr. Kumaraswamy sought to know who would want to invest in Karnataka in such a vitiated atmosphere. “What is the point of holding a global investors’ meet?” he asked.
