Bengaluru: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Tejasvi Surya, Shobha Karandlaje, and Suresh Kumar Tuesday joined protesters who have been reciting the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ at Nagarathpete in Bengaluru.
The protests began Monday after CCTV footage of six men assaulting a shop owner in the area started doing the rounds on social media. Surya had later claimed that Mukesh was playing ‘Hanuman Chalisa’, fuelling protests in the area.
The victim, Mukesh, in his complaint, said six men, including two Hindus, asked him to stop playing ‘music’ on Sunday evening since it was time for Azaan at a nearby mosque and assaulted him when he refused.
On Tuesday, Hindutva groups and BJP leaders argued with police as they chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Vande Mataram’. “This is a demand for justice. The government instead of trying to give him (Mukesh) swift justice, is trying to defend those who have perpetrated this crime only because this suits its vote-bank politics,” Surya told reporters.
Apart from the 17 March incident, the BJP has raised concerns over ‘appeasement politics’, ‘Pakistan Zindabad‘ slogans in the Vidhan Sabha, and the Rameshwaram Cafe blast in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election.
“These radical elements draw strength from the fact that the government… the chief minister, straight, stands in their defence,” Surya alleged. “They know the might of the government will come to support them, which is why they put up statuses (on social media) like ‘aaj jail, kal bail, phir wahi khel’.”
The Bengaluru South MP was also detained shortly after he participated in the protest.
Wearing a saffron shawl, Mukesh also took part in the protests Tuesday. “If something more had happened… if I had died, who would be responsible? I am happy and feeling good that some people have come to support me,” he told reporters.
When the police tried to escort Mukesh out of the area to contain the growing protests, BJP leader Suresh Kumar waylaid the police vehicle. The police had to let Mukesh go, and protesters escorted him to the front as the face of the campaign.
Karandlaje told NewsNation that the Congress-led state government is not taking action in several cases and playing vote-bank politics, which is sinking Karnataka.
“In the Vidhana Soudha, they raised ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans, but there was no case for a week. Secondly, they (the accused in the Rameshwaram Cafe blast) came from Tamil Nadu, and placed a bomb here… Thirdly, people came from Kerala and poured acid on three students,” she alleged.
Karandlaje has demanded the arrest of all the accused in the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ case and the resignation of Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara.
A day before, Karnataka Health Minister and Congress MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao dismissed claims that Mukesh was playing ‘Hanuman Chalisa’.
Rao, in response to a post on ‘X’ from Surya, said the men who attacked Mukesh included Hindus, as well. “Why will Hindus attack a Hindu shopkeeper over Azaan? Who has said that Hanuman Chalisa was being played?” he tweeted.
As usual @Tejasvi_Surya tries to spread hatred.
The boys who have attacked the Hindu shopkeeper are both Hindus and Muslims.
Why will Hindus attack a Hindu shopkeeper over Azaan.
Who has said that Hanuman Chalisa was being played?
What makes you jump to the conclusion that… https://t.co/6WhxRBTJfQ
— Dinesh Gundu Rao/ದಿನೇಶ್ ಗುಂಡೂರಾವ್ (@dineshgrao) March 18, 2024
The Surya post on ‘X’ had said, “A Hindu shopkeeper who was playing bhajans at his shop was assaulted by anti-social elements saying Bhajans aren’t allowed during the time of Azaan.”
According to Mukesh’s complaint that ThePrint has seen, Suleman, Shahnawaz, Rohit, Danish, Taruna, and others are accused of assaulting him after he refused to stop playing music. There is no mention of ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ in the hand-written complaint or the FIR.
However, Mukesh’s father Gopal Singh told ANI Tuesday, “The songs we play in the evening are of God’s. When there is puja, whose else’s song will we play? It is probably Hanuman Chalisa. I was not here (at the shop), my boy (son) is saying this… by the time I reached, he was bloodied.”
“This (assault) happened because of the volume. They asked him to lower the volume… it was ‘Hanuman Chalisa’… whatever it was… they (attackers) came to intimidate him to lower the volume. Then, they caught him and started hitting him,” he added.
Since the BJP lost power in the May 2023 Karnataka election, it has been calling out the Congress-led government for “appeasement politics” and “emboldening” radical elements.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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