By P.Okay.Balachandran
Colombo, Might 29 (Counterpoint): The newly-installed Congress authorities in Karnataka has begun the method of restoring the communal steadiness within the State that was upset by the earlier BJP authorities led by Basavaraj Bommai.
The composition of Chief Minister Siddharamaiah’s cupboard signifies {that a} honest deal is within the offing for the State’s minorities, marginalized beneath the 5–yr rule of the Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP).
The Bommai authorities, imitating the Narendra Modi regime on the Centre, had fully marginalized the minority Muslims and Christians with the intention of eliminating them from the politics of the State and its buildings of governance.
Communalism, marked by shrill anti-Muslim and anti-Christian rhetoric (together with corruption) was the order of the day throughout Basavaraj Bommai’s rule for 4 years. The Bommai authorities enacted the Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020 concentrating on Muslims and Christians within the beef commerce. The Karnataka Safety of Proper to Freedom of Faith Act, 2022 made spiritual conversion a legal act. Hijabs had been banned in lecture rooms. The 4% reservation for Muslim Backward castes was scrapped. The anti-halal motion was launched as “a conflict towards financial Jihad” whereas romantic relations between Muslim males and Hindu girls had been condemned as “Love Jihad” punishable by vigilante violence.
To underline its Hindu id, the BJP didn’t put up a single Muslim or Christian candidate within the Might elections. Its marketing campaign was additionally overtly communal. In January, a Dakshina Kannada MP and Karnataka BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel requested individuals to “prioritize “bigger points” similar to Love Jihad over “minor points” similar to roads, infrastructure and improvement. Kateel’s assertion went viral on the social media.
Coastal Karnataka, comprising Uttara and Dakshina Kannada districts, was became a hotbed of violent communalism, marked by murders of activists of Hindu and Muslim communal organizations. Between 2015 and 2017, there was a collection of murders of younger males working for Hindu and Muslim organizations. 2017 noticed the extremely publicized murders of the (Muslim) Social Democratic Occasion of India employee Ashraf Kalayi and the RSS employee Sharath Madiwala. These killings had been exploited by the BJP in elections. The BJP’s Jana Suraksha Yatre held an enormous rally in Mangalore.
In July 2022 a Muslim youth was killed in Sullia (Dakshina Kannada). In retaliation, Praveen Nettaru, a BJP Yuva Morcha chief, was killed on July 27. On July 28, one Mohammad Fazil was stabbed in Surathkal. These affected the voting sample of voting within the Might 2023 polls in coastal Karnataka.
With communal pressure heightening, Hindu militant organizations just like the Sri Rama Sene started to seize headlines with their actions. The Sri Rama Sena, a puritanical Hindu outfit, disturbed Valentine’s Day celebrations condemning them as an undesirable and morally corrupting un-Hindu follow.
Communal Hotbeds
In line with The Hindu, communalism has not had a constant all-Karnataka enchantment. Its hotbed has mainly been the coastal Karnataka districts of Uttara and Dakshina Karnataka.
The enchantment of Hindu communalism and the higher efficiency of the BJP in Coastal Karnataka have been as a result of space’s historic hyperlinks with nationalistic Hindu organizations just like the Arya Samaj and the Brahmo Samaj from the Eighteen Eighties onwards. By the late Twenties and early Thirties, RSS shakas had come up on this space, the paper says.
The enchantment of Hindu nationalism there was additionally as a result of conspicuous presence of Catholics and Muslims in Coastal Karnataka. Muslims have been a selected irritant within the eyes of the Hindus as a result of they had been a profitable enterprise neighborhood with hyperlinks to the Gulf international locations and likewise the Moplah Muslims of Kerala, one other affluent buying and selling neighborhood.
Whereas the BJP’s dominance in Coastal Karnataka could possibly be attributed to a pre-existing communal divide within the social and financial sphere, its weak place in the remainder of Karnataka, as seen within the simply concluded elections, could possibly be attributed to the absence of appropriate goal situations. Congress Chief Minister Siddharamaiah put this succinctly in his interview to Frontline.
Talking of Karnataka as an entire he stated: “Karnataka is named Sarva Janaangada Shantiya Thota (a backyard of communal peace) and within the true sense, we’re a celebration that practices the philosophy of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas [With all, development for all). If you notice the profile of Congress MLAs, you will see that Congress is the only party that provides representation to all castes and communities. This is not appeasement but social justice as everyone must get political representation.”
Communally Inclusive Cabinet
Siddharamaiah has implemented the “garden of communal peace” concept in cabinet formation. In contrast to the Bommai cabinet, which had no Muslims or Christians, the Siddharamaiah cabinet has four ministers from religious minorities, including two Muslims, one Christian, and one Jain. And for the first time, a Muslim, U.T. Khader, has been made Speaker.
In contrast, the BJP had not put up a single Muslim or Christian candidate in the recent Assembly elections. If the BJP had won the elections, Karnataka would not have had a single Muslim or Christian minister.
Known for his cross-caste and cross-religious appeal, Siddharamaiah has ensured a fair representation of all castes and communities in his cabinet. There are eight Lingayats, four Vokkaligas, five Scheduled castes, and three Scheduled Tribes in his 34-member cabinet. The only noticeable lacuna is the fact that there is only one woman in it, though women had overwhelmingly voted for Congress.
Asked if he planned to repeal the communal laws, Siddharamaiah said: “We will reverse all anti-people decisions taken by the BJP government. We have already announced that we will rescind the anti-cow slaughter law. The hijab issue is now in the Supreme Court, but our position on that is clear and we will consult our legal team before we take the next step. We had also opposed the anti-conversion law and we will take steps to withdraw this legislation.”
Siddharamiah further said that the 4% reservation for Muslims was scrapped without any study by the Backward Classes Commission. “Legally, this is not tenable, and we will take steps to withdraw that order,” he added.
Since a caste census is a must for ensuring social justice, the Congress Chief Minister said: “The caste census was incomplete in my term and was submitted during the term of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular)] coalition authorities. We are going to take steps to desk the findings of the caste census within the Meeting, and this empirical information will assist my authorities in formulating a scientific reservation coverage in Karnataka. It was not merely a caste census however a survey that scientifically data the academic and social info of Karnataka’s inhabitants. Taking this survey as a primary step, we are going to work in direction of enhancing reservation within the State.”
Tipu Jayanti
In the course of the election marketing campaign. BJP stalwart and Indian Residence Minister, Amit Shah, had accused the Congress of wanting to revive Tipu Sultan’s rule, which based on the BJP, was considered one of Islamic bigotry.
From 2016 until 2018, the Congress authorities in Karnataka celebrated “Tipu Jayanti” on November 10 yearly because the 18 the. Century ruler of Mysore had died combating the British and had made Mysore probably the most affluent a part of India when a lot of Central and North India was in a chaotic situation.
In line with Tipu’s biographer, Prof. Mohibbul Hasan (Historical past of Tipu Sultan revealed in 1951) Tipu was not communal. He forcibly transformed solely those that had rebelled towards him just like the Nayars and the Coorgis. And the Catholics of Mangalore had earned his ire as a result of they’d sided with the British.
Would the Congress authorities beneath Siddharamaiah begin observing Tipu Jayanti as a part of its agenda to result in communal understanding and concord? He may go sluggish on this, as the topic is delicate due to the constant and high-decibel propaganda towards Tipu by the BJP from 2016 onwards. Moreover, the Congress has to defeat the BJP within the Might 2024 parliamentary elections.
Siddharamaiah may select to sort out much less controversial points first and postpone the restoration of Tipu Jayanti to a later date.
END