MANGALURU: The Muslim community in Dakshina Kannada district is feeling let down after Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai skipped visiting the house of Masood, an 18-year-old youth who was murdered in Bellare recently, when he called on the family of murdered BJP leader Praveen Nettaru on Thursday.
When the news of chief minister’s visit to Praveen’s family spread, many had requested that he also call on Masood’s family to show that the government is unbiased.
DYFI state president Muneer Katipalla had said the families of both Praveen and Masood have suffered equally because of communal hatred and Bommai should console the two families to maintain ‘Rajyadharma’.
Also, to visit Praveen’s family at Nettaru, the chief minister passed through Bellare where Masood’s house is located. But Bommai did not visit Masood’s house to console his mother and aged grandparents.
While the chief minister’s decision is being seen as a political compulsion in the wake of outrage from saffron cadres following Praveen’s death, many feel that being a head of the state, Bommai should have acted impartially.
Articulating the community’s feeling, UT Khader, deputy leader of opposition in the Assembly, said the pain that the mothers of Masood and Praveen felt due to the tragic death of their sons is the same.
“If the CM, who took the oath that he will treat all equally, takes such a stand, then how can justice be expected from the police who work under him,” he asked.
Political commentator Prof Chandra Poojary termed the chief minister skipping Masood’s house as “anti-constitutional”, adding that it is nothing but an extension of BJP’s politics of polarisation. Such politics is dangerous for the country and will only worsen the current situation, he warned.