Bengaluru: Karnataka’s home minister, G. Parameshwara, has said that a police unit will be set up to check ‘moral policing’ and other kinds of vigilantism, which are particularly prevalent in the state’s coastal districts.
On Tuesday, Parameshwara told reporters in Mangaluru, “In Dakshina Kannada, particularly in Mangaluru, a lot of so-called moral policing is happening. People are fed up with it and some people are trying to create this in a big way, so we would like to stop this moral policing at once and take whatever steps are necessary so that this will not be repeated again.”
“We would like to create an atmosphere of communal harmony so that people live in peace. That is why today, we have taken a decision to constitute a force within the police force to look into this,” he added.
While there is no clarity on how this force or squad will be formed or what its area of operations will be, the idea is in line with a poll promise made by the Congress — that it would take action against individuals and organisations “spreading hatred among communities”. The fact that it named the Bajrang Dal as a group that may be banned resulted in a controversy, with the BJP targeting the Congress.
Soon after Parameshwara’s statement, Tejasvi Surya, the firebrand BJP MP from Bengaluru South, hit out at the Congress government. He shared a video doing the rounds on social media, purportedly showing a man who was “beaten up” for speaking against the CM. “Hope the special force constituted will take immediate action against these two people,” wrote Surya.
It’s good that Karnataka Home Minister Sri @DrParameshwara wants to tackle the problem of ‘moral policing’.
As charity begins at home, it would be great if he could start with this case where two Congress workers beat up a common man in Bengaluru on the pretext that he spoke… https://t.co/A27yTjrTbe pic.twitter.com/K8Dm6zgEP5
— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) June 6, 2023
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Helpline for ‘Peaceful Karnataka’
Karnataka’s three coastal districts — Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada — are often referred to as a ‘communal laboratory’, where religious divides overshadow caste-based politics.
According to former home minister Araga Jnanendra’s written response to the Legislative Council in February, a total of 104 ‘communal incidents’ were reported in Karnataka between 2020 and 2023 (February).
Of this, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada accounted for 11 cases each. Other communally sensitive areas include Shivamogga, which borders Udupi and Uttara Kannada, and Kodagu — which reported six incidents.
The Congress government has said that it would review all laws passed by the previous BJP government, including the Right to Freedom of Religion Bill (anti-conversion law) and the Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, besides restrictions on children wearing hijabs to school.
The Congress has also proposed setting up a new helpline called ‘Peaceful Karnataka’.
On Tuesday, state minister M.B. Patil requested CM Siddaramiah, Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, home minister Parameshwara and MLA Priyank Kharge through Twitter to “consider setting up a new helpline called ‘Peaceful Karnataka’ to ensure there is no hatred being spread in Karnataka, and to keep track of such incidents”.
Requesting @DrParameshwara @PriyankKharge @DKShivakumar @CMofKarnataka to consider setting up a new helpline called “Peaceful Karnataka”
To ensure there is no hatred being spread in Karnataka, and keep track of any such incidents.
Our agenda is only Development & Progress,… https://t.co/mBYdwHVC6m
— M B Patil (@MBPatil) June 5, 2023
This was in response to the BJP’s proposal to set up a helpline to report ‘legal atrocities’ of the Congress government, which it accused of targeting its workers. “State BJP will soon start a helpline to curb all legal atrocities by the Congress government,” Surya had said in a tweet on 3 June.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)