The former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Sunday condemned the violence in Hubballi and accused the Congress and the BJP of adopting a divide-and-rule policy of the British ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections in the State. In a series of tweets, the JD(S) leader said, “Late-night incidents in Hubballi have shattered me to the core. Attempts of evil forces to destroy peace & harmony are of grave concern. Using religion as a tool to spark off tension for political gains is wrong”. He alleged that both the national parties, Congress and BJP, like these kinds of mischievous incidents. “Both are pursuing the British policy of divide and rule in Karnataka, which is preparing for elections. People should be wary of these two national parties”. Mr. Kumaraswamy congratulated the Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner and the entire police force for nipping the incident in the bud and preventing it from becoming another D.J. Halli-type incident. “Situation has come under control because of an early police intervention,” he said. Noting that none should tolerate any efforts to disturb peace in Hubballi, which remained calm after an end to the Idgah maidan issue, he said, “A provoking message forwarded by a youth on a social networking platform, which ideally should be used to spread harmony in society, has led to this incident”. The JD(S) leader said, “A group of people belonging to a particular community should have displayed restraint instead of fueling the violence by pelting stones on police, damaging police station & hospital”. He appealed: “Other community should not take the law into their hands & should have faith in the system. For the last few days, Karnataka is witnessing communal rage, it has hurt everyone. Let it not continue.” He alleged that incidents from Kundapur to Hubballi reflected abject failure on the part of the State Government. “Remaining idle instead of taking strict action is the reason for such incidents. The Chief Minister & Home Minister should take the Hubballi incident seriously,” Mr. Kumaraswamy tweeted. “For some miscreants, social media has become a ‘tool kit’, to spread violence. Police should set fire to the roots of such mischief mongers,” he said.
Later, participating in a programme where senior leader C.M. Ibrahim took over as State president of the JD(S), Mr. Kumaraswamy demanded that the Government find out who is backing the youth who put up a provocative social media post that triggered violence in Hubballi and similarly bring out the truth on who instigated another community that indulged in violence.
He expressed concern that the BJP State executive had confined its discussion to the strategy for winning the next polls instead of deliberating on issues that are affecting communal harmony in the State.
