'Casteism, communalism are posing threat to democracy'

Congress-JD(S) Coalition Coordination and Monitoring Committee Chairman Siddaramaiah said politics is full of ups and downs and there will always a hope for a better tomorrow.

He was speaking at the release of ‘Nannolagina Nanu’, the autobiography on former minister late B A Moideen at Town Hall on Friday.

“Moideen too had faced a lot of trials in his political career. He was a staunch follower of D Devaraj Urs, pioneer of social reforms in Karnataka and had imbibed the qualities of equality and social justice from him. He might have been a minister for a considerably lesser term. But his contributions during his ministerial tenure have been immense, especially to higher education and small industries sectors,” Siddaramaiah said.

He said Moideen was a leader of all communities. He was a clean politician, free of selfishness, Siddaramaiah said and recalled that he met Moideen in Ujire recently. “Moideen had invited me in person for the book release function,” he remembered.

Referring to a portion of the book, Siddaramaiah said that there is a chapter on him in the book. “Moideen has analysed reasons for my electoral defeat in Chamundeshwari constituency. According to Moideen, Hindutva and false propaganda were the reasons for the defeat,” he said.

Siddaramaiah said that Moideen had hoped for an ideal society of solidarity and communal harmony. Unfortunately, there are some hurdles to achieve his dream. Casteism and communalism are growing, posing a threat to democracy, as Moideen has mentioned in his book, he said and added that anyone who clings to a particular religious ideology, ignoring other religions, can only be referred to as bigots.

Releasing the book, Hampi Kannada University former Vice Chancellor Prof B A Viveka Rai said that the book allows the readers introspect. The book also acts as a record of communal harmony in the erstwhile Dakshina Kannada, he felt.

Tributes were paid to Moideen on the occasion.