The issue on use of loudspeaker for azan was being raked up deliberately to create unrest in society and the onus is on the Chief Minister and the Home Minister to maintain peace in the State, KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar on Monday said.
“This is the failure of the government. If it is not managed properly, there are chances of unrest in the State,” he told reporters here. He also pointed out that a delegation of leaders from the Congress had met Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and submitted a memorandum highlighting his responsibility in taking action.
Mr. Shivakumar said that the Supreme Court has already decided on the azan issue, and the police have issued notices.
B.K. Hariprasad, Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Council, said that those indulging in acts that disturb communal harmony should be treated as “extremists”.
‘Arrest Mutalik’
Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said that Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Mutalik, who is “deliberately disturbing peace” should be put behind bars. “Karnataka was known, as Kuvempu put it, as a ‘peaceful garden of all faiths’ and this image should be restored,” he said. He urged the government not to “deliberately turn a deaf ear” to the ongoing efforts to disturb peace.
