Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge on Monday accused BJP leaders of creating “unnecessary tension” over festival celebrations and questioned why people should need police protection to celebrate them peacefully.
His remarks came a day after BJP leaders staged a protest at T Narasipura in Mysuru district against a police officer’s warning to members of a Ganesha Puja committee to comply with police directions, apparently aimed at preventing any tension between communities.
The minister, taking a swipe at BJP leaders, particularly former MP Pratap Simha, said they should heed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks that Muslims were an integral part of India.
“BJP leaders should listen to Mohan Bhagwat. He has said that Muslims are an integral part of our country. But here, we are seeing a different approach from them,” Priyank told reporters here.
He questioned why festivals that had traditionally been celebrated together had now become a “source of tension”.
“Christmas, Eid, Ganesha festival and other festivals have always been celebrated together. Processions have taken place, and people have gone for immersions. Why has the situation changed now? Why do we need police protection to celebrate our festivals peacefully?” he asked.
Priyank appealed to people to cooperate with the police and avoid actions that could create tension during religious processions.
“Whatever the festival, people should celebrate it happily. Please cooperate with the police. Do not insist on doing things in a particular manner if they could create problems. After all, everyone has a family,” he said.
He said restrictions on processions were intended to prevent untoward incidents and maintain peace, and not to stop celebrations.
“If there is a route map for a procession or for going to an immersion point, it should be followed. If a particular route is unavoidable, then use it. What is wrong with that? All we are saying is: do it peacefully,” Priyank said.
He said the same principle applied to all communities and urged people not to deliberately create disturbances near places of worship.
“No one’s celebration should cause anxiety or fear to another person,” he said.
Priyank criticised the BJP for opposing precautionary measures, pointing out that similar meetings had been held when Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly R Ashoka and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai were Home ministers.
“Ashoka was the Home minister, wasn’t he? Didn’t he conduct such meetings? Didn’t Basavaraj Bommai do the same? Have I changed anything after coming here? The rules Ashoka had put in place are the same rules that exist today,” he said.
Responding to the BJP’s allegation that restrictions were being imposed on Hindu festival arrangements, Priyank said, “I cannot run the government or the department according to what the BJP tells me. Are we expected to do whatever they say? Is asking people to celebrate peacefully wrong?”
The minister criticised BJP leaders who allegedly threatened to enter a police station during the protests.
On ED searches on Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi and his relatives, Priyank accused the BJP of using central agencies and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy to target the state government ahead of the elections.
“There are no leaders left in the BJP, so they (BJP central leadership) are using the CBI, IT and ED. They are putting Kumaraswamy on the front. It appears that the BJP’s high command has outsourced the job to the IT department, ED and JD(S),” Priyank alleged.
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