MYSURU: Karnataka, described by Rashtrakavi Kuvempu as ‘Sarva Janangada Shantiya Thota’ (Garden where all communities live in harmony), seems to be losing this tag if one goes by the rapid rise in number of cases of offences related to religion, hatred among people, communal clashes and instances of hurting religious sentiments of one another.
Data available with TNIE reveals that the state has seen more than 700 offences related to religious and communal issues in the last 40 months. According to information sourced from Karnataka State Police, the state has registered over 752 cases of offences related to religion (IPC 295 to 297) including communal and caste riots in a span of just 3.4 years (January 2019 to April 2022).
The offences related to religion (booked under IPC 295 to 297) stood at 197 in the year 2019 but jumped to 212 and 204 in the following two years, and this year in just four months, over 97 cases have been registered already.