The ruling Congress and the opposition BJP in Karnataka are on a confrontational path with the Congress leaders petitioning the Legislative Council chairman Basavaraj Horatti against BJP MLCs – LoP Chalavadi Narayanswamy and chief whip N. Ravikumar.
The Congress leaders led by Saleem Ahmed met Horatti and sought disciplinary action against the two BJP leaders for their alleged communal, anti-Constitutional and defamatory remarks against IT minister Priyank Kharge and Kalaburagi deputy commissioner Fauzia Tarannum.
In their complaint, the Congress party has accused Ravikumar of insulting the DC during the “Kalaburagi chalo’ protest held on May 24. The MLC had stated that the DC office was no longer “independent” and wondered if the DC was from Pakistan or an IAS officer here.
“The statement is a violation of Article 14 (Right to equality), 15 (Prohibition of discrimination based on religion, caste, gender or place of birth) , 21 (Right to protection of life and personal liberty) and 51A(e) and (j) – Fundamental duty to promote harmony and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women. His remark qualifies as hate speech. The Supreme Court has recognised that it is the responsibility of the state to curb hate speech that threatens the social harmony and unity,” said the complaint, demanding disciplinary action along with the legal action.
Meanwhile, the Belagavi station bazar police have filed an FIR against Ravikumar under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 197 (actions or statements that incite divisions among different religious, racial, linguistic, regional, or caste groups, thereby threatening national unity), section 224 (offense of threatening injury to a public servant to induce them to perform or refrain from performing their duties), section 299 (acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class of people by insulting their religion or religious beliefs), section 302 (offense of uttering words or doing acts with the deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person), section 351 (act of making a false statement in a declaration that is receivable as evidence), and section 353 (offense of making statements that are likely to incite any class or community of persons to commit an offense against another class or community). A case under SC and ST Prevention of Atrocities Act has also been filed.
The delegation of Congress leaders also alleged that Narayanaswamy had made a disparaging comparison of Kharge to a “dog” and demanded action against the LoP for targeting a dalit leader.
Meanwhile, the BJP leader has claimed that he had only used a proverb which had been misconstrued. A controversy broke out after Kharge’s supporters illegally detained Narayanaswamy for five hours at a guesthouse in Kalaburagi, demanding that he apologise to their leader. Narayanaswamy criticised the police for failing to protect him during the incident. The BJP has demanded Kharge's resignation, citing his alleged involvement in the detention.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court orally asked the BJP MLC to apologise to Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner after he petitioned the court challenging the FIR filed against him. The court also advised the petitioner to bring closure to the matter and not escalate it. "It should not have happened in the first place. Now that it has happened, mitigate it," the court added.
Earlier, the IAS Officers’ Association, Karnataka had strongly condemned Ravikumar’s remark and demanded an unconditional apology, while urging the authorities to take legal action. The Association which described Tarannum as an officer of “impeccable integrity” with an exemplary track record and a deep commitment to public service, expressed serious concern that such provocative and false statements not only maligned the dignity of dedicated civil servants but also caused severe mental trauma, amounting to harassment in the line of duty.
