BENGALURU: The political blowback over Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge describing Deepavali as “Eid of happiness” continued on Monday, with the BJP revving up its attacks on him. However, his son and Home and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge defended the expression as a common regional usage and accused the BJP of failing to understand Karnataka’s linguistic diversity.
The controversy erupted after Mallikarjun Kharge, while extending Deepavali greetings on November 7, described the festival as an “Eid of happiness” (festival of joy) and appealed to people to overcome differences and misunderstandings to maintain peace and national unity.
Defending his father, Priyank said ‘Khushiyon ka Eid’ was a commonly used expression in Kalyana Karnataka and there was no reason to create a controversy over it. “What is the controversy in this? ‘Khushiyon ka Eid’ means a festival of happiness. It is a common terminology used across Kalyana Karnataka. People who do not understand the language should be asked why they are triggering a controversy,” he replied while speaking to TNIE.
Pointing to the influence of different languages on regional dialects, he said Kannada was often mixed with Marathi, Urdu, Telugu and Tamil in different parts of the state.
“In Mumbai-Karnataka, Marathi words are mixed with Kannada. In our region, Urdu is mixed with Kannada, while Bidar has an influence of Marathi. In the undivided Kolar region, Telugu is mixed with Kannada. Even in Bengaluru, people mix English and Kannada while speaking. It is all part of communication,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Ashwathnarayana Gowda took strong exception to the remark, accusing the Congress president of minority appeasement. “Does the Congress president, who heads a party with a 150-year history, not know the difference between Deepavali and Eid Milad? Every time he speaks, minority appeasement seems to be uppermost in his mind. Even while wishing people on festivals, he appears to be speaking out of a sense of fear,” Gowda told TNIE.
Rejecting the Congress defence that the remark is based on regional linguistic usage, Gowda said people from Hyderabad-Karnataka or any other region could not be unaware of the distinction between the festivals. The BJP has accused the Congress of using the remark to pursue vote-bank politics, while the Congress maintains that the expression reflects the linguistic and cultural diversity of the region.
BJP ACCUSES KHARGE OF PEDDLING FAKE NARRATIVES
BENGALURU: BJP State President BY Vijayendra said instead of addressing Karnataka’s mounting law-and-order concerns, Home Minister Priyank Kharge is busy travelling to Kerala to peddle fake narratives and spread lies before a Muslim Youth League audience. The BJP leader was responding to Kharge’s remarks that those associated with Sangh Parivar were responsible for the murders of journalist Gauri Lankesh and writer MM Kalaburgi. Vijayendra said Kharge’s promise at a political rally in Kerala to put those accused in the Gauri Lankesh and MM Kalburgi murder cases behind bars within six months raises serious questions about his respect for judicial independence.
“Trials are decided by courts, not political pronouncements from campaign platforms. Both the Gauri Lankesh and M M Kalburgi murders took place in 2015 and 2017, respectively, when Congress was in power in Karnataka. Yet, the same Congress that failed to prevent these heinous murders now wants to lecture others on justice and accountability,” he stated. He accused the home minister of being more interested in playing judge, jury and executioner than discharging the responsibilities of his constitutional office. The BJP leader said before pointing fingers at others and delivering political sermons in Kerala, Kharge should answer for his party’s failures in Karnataka.