BENGALURU: Days after Home Minister Araga Jnanendra made a statement saying that the murder of one Chandru in a road rage incident in Bengaluru was because he “did not know Urdu” and hastily retracted it a few hours later, another BJP leader, MLC N Ravikumar, on Saturday made the same remark, saying that the victim was murdered by “goons” as he did not know Urdu.
When told by The New Sunday Express that the home minister had made the same statement and retracted it later, Ravikumar claimed that Jnanendra was “misguided” by the police, and said that action should be taken against the officers. Ravikumar’s statement comes in the wake of widespread protests by Congress leaders from across the state, including in Mysuru, Belagavi, Shivamogga and Davangere, where party cadres lodged police complaints seeking action against the home minister for “intentionally trying to show one community in a bad light and “making provocative statements with the intention to disturb communal harmony”.
The Congress have also called for action against BJP National General Secretary C T Ravi for making similar statements two days ago. Interestingly, BJP MLC Adagur H Vishwanath, speaking on the matter with The New Sunday Express , said, “The ministers need to be fair. The government cannot been seen as partisan. Is it not the government of all people and not just one section? Then should they not be fair?’’ On the issue of preventing Muslims from conducting businesses near temples, Vishwanath asked why mutts and religious heads have not spoken on this matter. “Would they have not spoken if their grants were cut?” he asked. It may be recalled that the Congress leaders and Youth Congress have called for action against Jnanendra and CT Ravi for making “false and misleading statements”.