Hyderabad: Telangana Urban Development and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) said Monday that Bengaluru and Hyderabad must continue to have a healthy competition in the spheres of job creation and infrastructure, but not over “halal and hijab” — remarks that come as Karnataka’s hijab row reaches the doorstep of the Supreme Court, and Hindutva groups mount a campaign against halal meat in the state.
KTR’s comments were part of a bantering Twitter exchange with Karnataka Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar. He was responding to Shivakumar’s claim earlier in the day that the Congress would be back in power in Karnataka by the end of 2023, and restore Bengaluru’s “glory”. Assembly elections are due in the state next year.
Dear @DKShivakumar Anna, I don’t know much about politics of Karnataka & who will win but challenge accepted?
Let Hyderabad & Bengaluru compete healthily on creating jobs for our youngsters & prosperity for our great nation
Let’s focus on infra, IT&BT, not on Halal & Hijab https://t.co/efUkIzKemT
— KTR (@KTRTRS) April 4, 2022
The exchange began with a tweet last week by Bengaluru-based startup founder Ravish Naresh. Naresh, the co-founder of Khatabook and Housing.com, said that startups in Bengaluru’s Koramangala and HSR areas — considered IT hubs — were paying billions of dollars in taxes but continued to reel under infrastructure problems such as bad roads, unusable footpaths, and an airport that took three hours to reach in peak traffic.
Khatabook is a digital services platform that helps merchants with online payments and tracking their business transactions, while Housing.com is a Mumbai-based real-estate search portal.
In his tweet, Naresh tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Karnataka BJP, and BJP leader and Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya.
Also the nearest airport is ~3hrs away in peak traffic. @PMOIndia @narendramodi @BJP4Karnataka @Tejasvi_Surya pls help
— ravishnaresh.eth (@ravishnaresh) March 30, 2022
KTR — Telangana’s minister for municipal administration & urban development, industries & commerce, and information technology — then responded to Naresh, urging him to consider moving to Hyderabad, a city that he claimed had “better infrastructure” than Bengaluru. This elicited Shivakumar’s response about restoring Bengaluru’s “glory” Monday.
Pack your bags & move to Hyderabad! We have better physical infrastructure & equally good social infrastructure. Our airport is 1 of the best & getting in & out of city is a breeze
More importantly our Govt’s focus is on 3 i Mantra; innovation, infrastructure & inclusive growth https://t.co/RPVALrl0QB
— KTR (@KTRTRS) March 31, 2022
This isn’t the first time KTR has pushed Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana, as being a superior city. In December last year, the minister took a dig at Bengaluru for “taking comedy too seriously” when the city’s law enforcement authorities cancelled stand-up comic Munawar Faruqui’s show, citing law and order problems.
After the Bengaluru Police dubbed Faruqui “controversial”, KTR extended his support to the stand-up comic and extended an open invitation to him and Kunal Kamra — another comedian whose shows in the city had been cancelled due to alleged threats — to perform in Hyderabad.
The Twitterati, meanwhile, had a mixed response to Naresh’s views on Bengaluru.
Please tag your area MLA & corporator. They’re the ones responsible for local infrastructure. Also, get involved with the local govt on how startups can help keep infrastructure up to date in a fast growing city like ours. Ask your employees to vote & be part of local politics
— Manasa Manjunath (@ManeeManjunath) March 30, 2022
Thank for your courage. Bangalore can become a world class city like New York. But inefficient planning and only short term fixes spoiling the future of Bangalore. I did not see any bright future.
— Ravi S Rao (@RaviSRao4) April 1, 2022
Move of north Bengaluru, u hv exceptional infrastructure around Hebbal area, with great roads, residential & commercial properties & is just 30 mins to the airport ..but wait – I prefer crying on twitter .. I thought start ups solve problems, but this guy is crying.. lol
— Vinodh Kumar (@vinodh007) April 1, 2022
Halal and hijab
KTR’s comments on “halal and hijab” come in the context of several ongoing controversies in Karnataka. In January this year, six hijab-wearing Muslim students of Udupi’s Government Pre-University College were stopped from attending classes unless they removed their headscarves.
As this escalated into a row over religious freedoms, with protests and counter-protests across the state and elsewhere, the students approached the Karnataka High Court — which upheld the college’s right to ban the headscarf, saying that the hijab was not fundamental to Islam. The petitioners have now appealed the high court’s decision before the Supreme Court.
Since then, several Hindutva organisations in Karnataka have also been campaigning for a ban on halal meat. ‘Halal’, which literally translates into lawful, is a technique of animal slaughter that is permissible under Islamic law. Hindutva groups in the state have also called for a boycott of Muslim traders from temples and fairs, just ahead of the Ugadi, a day that Hindus in the region observe as their new year.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Also read: Forget ‘essential’, hijab isn’t that Islamic. Muslim women just made Western tees ‘halaal’