BENGALURU: Home Minister G Parameshwara said that a new law will be brought in to crack down on those who make hate speeches, inciting communal sentiments. In the coastal region, communal harmony has been disturbed in recent years.
Due to this, murders and violent incidents are taking place. A special task force has been formed to curb this. Unnecessarily, hate speech and provocative posts on social media have led to violence. Therefore, a new law will be implemented against those who make hate speeches in the coming days, the minister said.
On June 11, a Special Task Force was formed in Dakshina Kannada, Shivamogga and Udupi to control communal violence. The force is monitoring those who post hate speech and communal-related incidents on social media. It is keeping a watch on potential communal violence, said the minister.
Apart from Bengaluru, Mangaluru contributes 6% to the state’s GDP. The task force is working to maintain communal harmony. So far, no incidents of violence or harming communal sentiments have occurred, said the minister.
Karnataka has the second largest investment atmosphere in the country. The Global Investors’ Meet witnessed signing of MoUs worth 10.27 lakh crore, and people will go back if there is a law and order issue. Hence, to ensure law and order is stable in the coastal region, the Task Force was constituted, said the minister. “We too do not want to see such force and once the situation becomes normal, we will think of withdrawing it,” he said.
The minister termed comments against individuals and organisations in the background of Dharmasthala burial case investigation as sad.
Earlier, Council member Kishore Kumar Puttur said the Home Minister visited Mangaluru on May 3 after the murder of Suhas Shetty but did not go to the victim’s home. This has sent a message that appeasement is taking place, said Puttur. Bharathi Shetty said she comes from the coastal belt and remarked that for ‘communal harmony’, Hindus must remain silent. Shetty said, ‘Cow killing, Love Jihad and attack on Hindus must not be taken for ‘communal harmony’.
In response, Parameshwara said: “You have not understood your town. Had the region been peaceful, we would not have come to restore peace. We did not come to create differences.”