In yet another onslaught on nationalist organisation in the state, a Dalit BJP leader has been hacked to death in Bengaluru, the 10th murder in last 2 years
Karnataka in general and Bengaluru in particular is turning an unsafe city more so for the BJP workers. Ever since Congress government under the leadership of Siddaramiah took over the reins of the administration, the law and order is deteriorating.
The latest example was the brutal murder of a BJP councillor in Bengaluru outskirts on March 14 and this was the tenth murder of BJP worker in the state.
Srinivasa Prasad who was popularly known as Kithaganahalli Vasu and a prominent Dalit face in the area was brutally hacked to death with sharp weapons around 5 AM. The news sent shockwaves across the state. Hundreds of BJP workers gathered at the spot and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. But, every Bengalurean has only one question in mind as to why Siddaramaiah government is not taking the law and order so seriously especially when Karnataka is following the Kerala model in hate crime as well as killing the BJP workers.
Reacting to the incident, RSS Media Coordinator for Karnataka, Rajesh Padmar said, The State Government should take strong steps to stop, such politically-motivated killings. He also demanded an immediate and an impartial probe into it. “In the last two years, more than 10 RSS-VHP-BJP activists have been killed. It is a dangerous development in a democratic set-up,” Padmar said adding that the deceased was a soft-spoken person and has no criminal cases against him.
Meanwhile, NIA revealed that Asim Shariff, one of the accused in the murder of RSS leader R Rudresh (2016), has connections with members of terror groups like Indian Mujahideen and Al Ummah. Asim Shariff is an activist of Islamist fundamental organisation called Popular Front of India. Shariff was charged with the provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for the murder. Rudresh was hacked to death in the heart of Bengaluru by two men on a motorcycle on October 16.
As Karnataka is fast turning into a grave yard for BJP workers, Karnataka unit of BJP is seeking a probe by NIA into killing of party workers and activists of different Hindu organisations and it appealed to the government to keep a tab on activities of jihadi elements. BJP leaders in Karnataka maintain that Congress government”s move to organise Tipu Sultan Jayanti is “beginning of communalisation” in the state. Stating that violence had erupted during the same event held at Madikeri in 2015, the BJP leaders say that till date the truth of who killed Kuttappa is yet to be ascertained.
Earlier in a representation to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP state unit president BS Yeddyurappa said that he had learnt from reliable sources that a very large number of Muslim youths in their mid-20s had entered Karnataka and were stationed in different parts of the state.
—R Guruprasad, Bengaluru
