Days after Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's public comment on moral policing, cries of outrage are being heard all over the state.
On Thursday, a coalition of women, Dalit and other citizen organisations as well as students gathered at Mysore Bank Circle here to protest the comment.
Asked about incidents of moral policing, Bommai had appeared to defend it, saying "action and reaction are bound to happen when there is no morality in society".
The protesters, comprising people of all age groups, demanded that the chief minister withdraw the statement, and condemned rising incidents of communal violence across Karnataka.
"These incidents are rising because there is a kind of covert encouragement by the state for this kind of violence,” said Vinay Sreenivasa, a lawyer and citizen activist.
He added that such incidents had increased ever since the chief minister's statement.
"The government’s performance during the Covid-19 pandemic or in general administration has not been great and that is why they it's upping the ante on such things," he stated.
Protesters called Bommai's statement a "direct violation of the constitutional oath he took as the chief minister".
"When I grew up, I chose the religious identity I wanted. I had this freedom of choice because of the Constitution of India. I want future generations to have the same freedom. The chief minister’s statement effectively leads the lumpen elements of society to take away that choice," said Leo Saldanha of the Environmental Support Group.
The protesters demanded that the government put an end to crimes happening in the name of caste and religion.
Transgender rights activist, Akkai Padmashali, who was present at the protest, said: "Seeing everything through the lens of caste, religion and class is going to bifurcate the plurality of the Constitution."