Bengaluru: Christian and Muslim spiritual and community leaders in Karnataka Friday demanded the ruling Congress government fulfil its promises of repealing contentious legislation, including the anti-conversion and anti-cattle slaughter laws, that targeted specific minority and oppressed communities, they said.
The delays in overturning Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-era bills have added to disillusionment among minority groups which are believed to be strong backers of the Congress party in Karnataka and other regions of the country.
In a statement to the media, Peter Machado, the Archbishop of Bangalore, and Mohammed Yahya Damudi, convener of the Karnataka Rajya Muslim Okkoota (KRMO), said Congress must act on its pre-poll promises.
“This (Congress) government, which was trying to get to power at that time put into the manifesto that if they came to power, they would withdraw (the laws) immediately,” Machado told reporters in Bengaluru Friday.
He added that the ruling Congress attributed the delays in repealing the laws to insufficient numbers in the state legislature’s upper house, which impacted the passage or withdrawal of Bills.
The statement demands the repealing of two Bills—Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, 2022, and Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020—as well as the immediate implementation of the proposed Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2025.
The hate speech Bill was sent from the Karnataka’s Lok Bhavan to the President of India Droupadi Murmu for her consideration on the grounds that the Bill was flawed.
All three bills were passed by the previous BJP government between 2019 and 2022.
Prior to the 23 October MLC polls, the Congress had 38 members in the 75-seat legislative council, while the BJP and its alliance partner Janata Dal (Secular) had 24 and six seats respectively.
There is one Independent and five vacant seats in the House, allowing Congress a smooth passage of bills.
Despite the majority in both houses, Congress, according to people aware of the developments, has been wary of seeming too eager to overturn all the contentious bills passed by its predecessor, anticipating a backlash from the majority Hindu vote bank.
‘Snake in the room’
Three years after storming to power, then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah withdrew the order banning religious symbols such as Hijabs in schools and colleges, overturning a directive imposed by the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP administration in February 2022.
But the delay in repealing the two other BJP-era bills have added to the disillusionment among its core support base.
This includes anger from the Muslim community over the denial of MLA tickets in the Davangere by-elections and follow-up action against two prominent leaders of the community, including the removal of Nasser Ahmed as the chief minister’s political secretary.
The delays in releasing the socio-economic and educational survey or ‘caste-census’ despite conducting the exercise twice since 2015 have fuelled disenchantment among oppressed groups which accuse the government of continuing to indulge dominant communities.
Machado said the Congress government had assured it would bring up the Bills in the upcoming winter session of the state legislature in Belagavi this December.
He added that the minorities were not in favour of watered-down versions of the BJP-era laws but would accept only a full withdrawal.
Machado said the community, in their previous interactions with the government, got the impression that the ruling party did not want to repeal the anti-cattle slaughter bill.
“They said that they will tailor it a little so that you (minorities and other stakeholders) are not affected that much. I said I am sorry (but) I am not satisfied,” he said.
He compared the watering down of the anti-cattle slaughter bill to a defanged snake let loose in a room.
“But the snake is still a frightening thing for us,” he said.
He added that the Congress should not ‘repair’ the laws and use them to its advantage at a later stage.
U. T. Khader, Karnataka’s Minister for Minority Affairs could not be reached for comment.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)