On Tuesday, 23rd May 2023, Karnataka’s chief minister Siddarmaiah gave instructions to the state police to initiate “ruthless action” against provocative posts on social media in the state. Siddarmaiah chaired a meeting of top police officers at Vidhana Soudha. During this meeting, he underlined that they should be more careful about maintaining peace and co-existence.
CM Siddarmaiah said, “Ruthless action must be initiated against those who disturb the peace and co-existence in the society. The police must also prevent the menace of drugs.” Additionally, he asked the police to address the traffic congestion issues in Bengaluru and effectively combat cybercrime within the state.
He added, “The people have elected the government for a change with hope and the officers must respond to the problems of the people.” Siddaramaiah directed senior officers to personally visit police stations and carry out inspections. He emphasized that individuals approaching the police to lodge complaints should not be treated as suspects and urged police officers to interact with them courteously.
Siddaramaiah said, “Our government will not tolerate goondagiri, unofficial club activities and drug mafia in the state. If these are encouraged, strict action would be initiated against the officers. We will complement good workers and if there is a dereliction of duty, we will initiate action without any hesitation.”
While Siddarmaiah talks about not tolerating goondagiri, it still remains unclear what is going to be his government’s stand against the Islamists in the state. Muslim religious public figures vocally asking the Congress government to give important ministries to Muslim leaders in exchange for the dedication the Muslim vote bank showed towards the party was perfectly in line with the appeasement policies offered in the manifesto of the Congress. Congress had vowed to ban Bajrang Dal in the state to appease the Muslims.
However, the party shied away from both the claimed ban promises and immediately fulfilling the demands of Muslim religious leaders. But, the ‘ruthless action’ pledged by the Congress government against instigating social media posts is yet to clear its biases. It remains to be seen if the Congress government will act with strictness against anti-Hindu tirades in the social media often peddled by Islamists and ne-Ambedkarites. Siddaramaiah has not yet categorically said anything about it.
The past actions by Congress in Karnataka indicate that the “strict action” that Siddaramaiah speaks of would mostly be against Hindus. It is pertinent to note that Congress took support from SDPI, which is the political wing of the banned Islamist terror outfit PFI, which wanted to turn India into an Islamic nation by 2047 and commit a genocide of Hindus as a matter of policy. Further, Siddaramaiah has in the past celebrated Tipu Jayanti with pomp and show. If the Chief Minister celebrates Islamic tyrants, one has to wonder if the state would act against those who harbour the very fanaticism that Tipu did.
While talking about maintaining peace and co-existence, Siddaramaiah did not take any cognizance of how Islamists in the state denied both peace and co-existence that prevailed during the BJP’s regime. They went on to unnecessarily instigate a row over hijab on educational campuses. The same set of people killed Harsha – a Bajrang Dal member.
26-year-old Hindu activist Harsha was brutally murdered in the Shivamogga district in Karnataka on 20th February 2022. Islamists murdered him because he demanded a uniform dress code in the educational institutes. Rather than addressing this goondagiri, Siddaramaiah coded his message in a way Islamists better understand. He said that the government will be more careful about maintaining peace and co-existence. The Islamist connection was also seen in the murder of Praveen Nettaru in July 2022. The effectiveness of Siddaramaiah’s promise to take action against all anti-social elements and apply equitable standards to everyone will thus be closely monitored by the people of Karnataka.
