Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, the firebrand Bharatiya Janata Party leader and MLA from Karnataka’s Vijayapura planned to organise rallies in protest of the Waqf, however, Muslim leaders of the area started to threaten him in order to intimidate him to cancel the demonstration. He scheduled a massive rally in Vijayapura on 16th October and another titled, “Waqf hatao, desh bachao (remove Waqf, save the country)” on 6th November.
He has been threatened that an alleged CD with information “exposing him” will be made public if he does not retract his call. A group of local Muslim leaders in Vijayapura, led by Advocate SS Quadri, issued the threat. Vijayapura, originally known as Bijapur, has a sizable Muslim population (36%) while having a predominantly Hindu majority (67%). On 14th October, Quadri and others told reporters in Vijayapura that if the lawmaker persisted in making alleged anti-Muslim remarks, they would release a Compact Disc featuring a video that would reveal his real character.
He claimed, “The MLA has been making, false, baseless and insulting remarks against the community. He is creating disharmony and provoking non-violent tendencies in society. This will not be tolerated. This is not a threat or perceived as blackmail. It is an act to expose the truth and demand accountability. He should stop his anti-Muslim statements or face public scrutiny.” He highlighted that the CD would be issued on 6th November if the lawmaker did not back down from his demand for the anti-Waqf march.
According to Quadri, Yatnal had applied for a stay on any print, video, or audio that might be broadcast in the media and damage his reputation or political career with the special court for people’s representatives in Bengaluru in 2019. “If everything is clear as he claims, why not take back that case? We are seeking an order from the honourable court to vacate this stay. We are warning him, he should stop making such statements against the community or face us,” he claimed.
Former city municipal corporation member Abdul Razak Horti argued that this was not an attempt at blackmail but rather an initiative to remind the MLA to speak and behave carefully. Notably, Yatnal has emerged as a fierce anti-Waqf voice who has also appealed for “noiseless Fridays and bloodless Bakrid,” in the past.
In addition to serving as a member of parliament twice, he was also a minister in the centre, serving as minister of state for railroads and textiles from 2003 to 2004. He is a two-time MLA who has been serving the Bijapur City Assembly constituency since 2018. He is emerging as a prominent nationalist voice and also has close ties to the Lingayat community.
