BJP, Sangh Parivar turning coastal Karnataka into communal laboratory: Hariprasad

B K Hariprasad, the Opposition leader in the Karnataka Legislative Council, on Tuesday, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Sangh Parivar of turning the state’s coastal region into a laboratory for communalism.

At the brainstorming session, named 'Navasankalpa Shibira', organised on Tuesday here at Adyar Garden by the DK District Congress Committee, Hariprasad said: “The Congress has a social responsibility to remove the seeds of hate in the (young) minds. It is a tragedy that the land which was ruled by King Ashoka…has been converted into a laboratory for communalism. The BJP and Sangh Parivar have no worry about the future of the children in the district. They (BJP, Sangh Parivar) send their children abroad for their studies while sending children of the poor to jail in the name of violence and clashes. There is a need to bring in changes in the system.”

According to Hariprasad, the “opponents of the Constitution” have long accused the Congress of “engaging in religious polarisation”. Stating that the BJP’s ancestors were against the freedom movement, Hariprasad said that the Congress need not learn a lesson from them.

"Hindutva is in no way connected to the Hindu religion. Hindutva is a political agenda, and the message should reach the masses. The Congress had constructed roads, schools, colleges, supplied water and electricity in the country all these years. However, the Congress did not take credit for it. After the BJP came to power, there was tension in the country in the name of religion, which the Congress should try to overcome," he said.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president Salim Ahmmed (spelling?) said the Navasankalpa Shibira was being organised in all districts, as directed by the All India Congress Committee. The camp aims at strengthening the party, discussing the issues for political strategies. The failure of the BJP administration should be brought to the notice of the general public. According to him, the Congress was being built again as a cadre-based party at grassroots level.

The Mangaluru Navasankalpa Shibira was also attended by several other state Congress leaders including Deputy Leader of Opposition in Assembly U T Khader.