In one more example of its public functionaries indulging in targeted hate speech, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Karnataka state president has said that party workers in the state should focus on the issue of “love jihad” before the assembly elections later this year, instead of “road, gutter, drain and other small issues”. The statement of Nalin Kateel has drawn strong opposition from the opposition, with the Congress accusing the BJP of deliberately indulging in divisive polarization to cloud its absence of performance and delivery in government.
Karnataka goes to the polls in April-May 2023. The opposition Congress is in a reasonably strong position there. Over the past months, high levels of corruption have been exposed by the contractors in the state. In August 2022, an NDTV Expose showed how the bribe paying contractors accused the BJP-led government demanding monetary incentive for giving contracts, at an all-time high. The Karnataka State Contractors Association (KSCA) claimed that the BJP-led state government is the “most corrupt government” and said that they have to pay a 40 per cent commission to the government, reported Live Mint.
Nalin Kateel made these controversial remarks at the BJP’s ‘Booth Vijay Abhiyaan’ for cadre in Mangaluru on Monday (January 2). “I am asking you people – don’t speak about minor issues like road and sewage. If you are worried about your children’s future and if you want to stop ‘love Jihad’, then we need BJP for that. To get rid of love jihad, we need BJP,” he said as part of his speech intended to motivate booth-level workers.
On an overdrive to polarize the electorate, the state unit president also lauded the Union government for banning the Popular Front of India. “Had the PFI not been banned, today we wouldn’t have BJP leaders Monappa Bhandary and Hari Krishna Bantwal (of Dakshina Kannada) on stage. MLA Vedavyas Kamath would not have been here. There would have only been a garland over their photos,” he alleged, claiming that the group had planned a “series of murders”.
The Congress responded and hit out at the leader’s remarks immediately, saying this is the worst possible advice the party could give its workers and would only polarise society. The Karnataka Congress tweeted a video of Kateel’s speech with the message, “…Development of the state, employment and education are minor issues! It’s shameful that BJP has asked its party workers not to talk about development, of which it has done little.”
“This is the worst (reply). They are not looking at development, they are looking at hate, they are looking at dividing the country…That is why we are only looking at development,” D.K. Shivakumar, Karnataka Congress chief, reportedly said. “They are just playing people on emotion. We want jobs, we want that price rise should not affect people, we are worried about the daily living of people.”
Over the past decade, the bogey of “love jihad” has been floated by the BJP and its ideological affiliates, claiming that Muslim men are luring and forcing Hindu women into marriage to convert them. Little evidence has been found for such claims. Yet, several BJP-ruled states have brought in anti-love jihad laws; Hindu right-wing groups have demanded one in Karnataka too. Ground reports from several states, especially Uttar Pradesh have exposed that these laws are largely used to harass interfaith couples and put Muslim men behind bars.
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