A wave of social unrest has been sweeping Karnataka, a State well known for peace and harmony and for being host to India’s information technology revolution in the capital city of Bengaluru. Of late, this Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled State has seen a spate of incidents aimed at spreading communal hate and denting the relationship between Hindus and Muslims. Although these incidents have largely been localised, their recurrence and the government’s tacit approval of them are matters of serious concern. Obviously linked to the Assembly elections due in a year’s time, the situation is likely to persist unless met with a decisive rebuff from civil society.
The controversy over students wearing the hijab in classrooms, incidents of some right-wing fringe organisations barring Muslim vendors at temple fairs, and the campaign against halal meat are in continuation of a long train of such events in quick and calculated succession. An open economic boycott of Muslims from public places is unprecedented even in coastal Karnataka, which is considered as an incubation centre of hard-line Hindutva politics, much less in the rest of the State.
