BENGALURU: For 10 months now, Karnataka has been lurching from one controversy over communal and ideological issues to another which has disturbed social harmony and pushed development to the back seat.
The controversy over textbooks is the latest in a series which began with the wearing of hijabs in classrooms and was followed by rows over halal meat and azaan being broadcast over loudspeakers.
BJP and pro-Hindutva groups have backed revisions t o school textbooks made by a panel headed by Hindutva sympathiser Rohith Chakrathirtha, while Congress and a section of writers h ave opposed it. They accuse BJP of saffronising school education. The controversy is largely over the inclusion of a speech by RSS founder KB Hedgewar as a lesson in a class 10 textbook. The row is unlikely to die down soon as Congress and some writers are demanding a withdrawal of revised textbooks. Primaryand secondary education minister BC Nagesh has rejected the demand outright.
“What has been happening in Karnataka for over the past few months is not good for the state,” said political analyst Ravindra Reshme. “It is a result of RSS aggressively pushing its agenda, taking advantage of the weak position of chief minister Basavaraj Bommai in the party as well as in the government. ”
Prior to textbooks, a row erupted over Muslims wearing hijabs in classrooms. A tense situation prevailed in many districts for weeks andstudents backed by pro-Hindutva and Muslim groups staged protests in schools and on roads. While the high court, in its verdict on the issue, made it mandatory for students to wear only uniforms prescribed by the school management and nothing else, the controversy has still not died down.
Pro-Hindutva outfits also raked up a row over halal meat, claiming it was not suitable for Hindus. Some right-wing activists even set up stalls to sell jatka meat during Ugadi, thus affecting the businesses of Muslim meat sellers.
In the meantime, the government’s push to enact an anti-conversion law also added fuel to existing tensions, with the Christian community objecting. The law came into force last week after the governor gave his assent to an ordinance.
Many feel BJP has deliberately allowed these controversies which target Muslims to precipitate as it would help it politically, especially in next year’s assembly elections. “Barring hijab, all other controversies could have been averted had the government reined in groups from both sides. But it deliberately allowed them to snowball only to gain political mileage,” said another political analyst.
Senior BJP functionary Ganesh Karnik denied these allegations saying the government handled these controversies responsibly. “None of these controversies were initiated by BJP or a pro-Hindutva group,” he said. “Opposition by some pro-Hindu groups to hijab and halal meat was purely reactionary. ”
