Muslim convention to review Karnataka govt on May 16 amid 'serious dissatisfaction' within community

The convention also comes in the backdrop of anger against the Congress for not giving the Davangere South bypoll ticket to a Muslim.

Bengaluru: A collective of Muslim organisations is hosting a state-level convention on May 16 where they will review what the Congress government has done for their community amid simmering anger over unkept promises.

The 'Karnataka Muslim Convention' will be organised by the Karantaka State Muslim Federation whose ad-hoc committee has prepared a report on the Congress government.

According to a release, the report highlights issues faced by Muslims in terms of their representation under the Congress government, the pending court cases on the hijab ban and 4% reservation, hate speeches and hate crimes, budgetary allocation, anti-cow slaughter law, anti-conversion law, scholarships for students and so on.

"Serious dissatisfaction was expressed" at a recent meeting of the federation "over the manner in which the Congress government has treated Muslims in the state." The release also stated that the Muslim community "should keep its options open" if Congress continued to take them for granted.

No politician will be invited to the convention, which will be held at Town Hall, the release stated.

The convention comes in the backdrop of anger against the Congress for not giving the Davangere South bypoll ticket to a Muslim. Disgruntlement rose after disciplinary action was initiated against Congress MLCs Naseer Ahmed and Abdul Jabbar for anti-party activites.

This anger led to a split in the the party's votes during the bypoll. Congress won by a narrow margin of 5,708 votes. However, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) polled 18,975 votes, which Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar described as "a big setback".