Bengaluru riots prove that Congress’s Dalit champion claim is hollow: Basavaraj Bommai

It’s been a week since the Pulakeshinagar riots in Bengaluru and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai has been dealing with its aftermath and the politics surrounding the incident. Making rioters pay for the damages will be the strongest message the government will send, he tells Bharath Joshi. Excerpts:

Many say the Pulakeshinagar riots could have been avoided.

The facts speak for themselves. Between 5.40 pm and 6 pm, that boy Naveen made that post on social media. It didn't get circulated immediately, but by 7 pm, it was in various (WhatsApp) groups. At 7.30 pm, we received a complaint and at 7.45 pm, an FIR was registered. We had almost located the boy. In the meantime, there were 300-400 people and this number swelled to 1,000-2,000, going on to become an unruly mob outside the DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations. The police had to control this unruly mob. About 1.5 km away, another mob had gathered. This means, it was planned. We acted promptly. And mind you, such incidents took 3-4 days for the previous government to contain. We quelled it in two hours. The real violence started at 10.30 pm, and by 12.30 am, the situation was under control. The police acted efficiently, promptly.

If it was planned, won’t that point to the failure of intelligence?

Planned means what? The violence was planned within a few hours. But there were political differences of opinion and a simmering discontent. We knew it, we were watching it and we were containing it as well. But the discontent was so deep that one spark was enough to ignite this whole thing. There’s no question of any intelligence or police failure.

The BJP is projecting this as an attack on a Dalit MLA. The counter is, it was the government’s responsibility to protect the Dalit MLA.

Congress always claims to be the champions of Dalits and minorities. Here, what is the stand they took? Isn't it the duty of the party to protect the MLA? The ‘Dalit MLA’ situation was known to them better than anybody else. They were the first people to know the inside thing. So, responsibility lies more on them. Their very claim of being the champion of Dalits has been found to be hollow now. They question us, but the maximum Dalits in the state and to Lok Sabha have been elected on the BJP ticket. People know well how they defeated Babasaheb Ambedkar. That's why they're trying to wriggle out from that.

Every time such incidents take place, the demand to ban organisations such as SDPI and PFI is renewed. What’s taking you so long to make a decision?

It's not a question of taking time. PFI and other organisations are different from SDPI. The SDPI is a political front registered with the Election Commission. There are certain procedures and processes. Right from Mangaluru incident, the moment we came to power, we've taken it up seriously. We're collecting information. It's not only information of the institution, but also information of each member. That process is on. Once everything is collected and put in proper order, we will move for (ban). The CM and cabinet will have to take a call. I'm confident the day will come very soon.

Take us through the process of making rioters pay for the losses to public, private property.

We’ve started this process for the Mangaluru rioting. There has to be a claim commissioner and the losses have to be assessed. Culprits have to be identified for each individual loss. Then, the claim commissioner will start the recovery process, which includes attaching the properties of the culprits. There’s a Supreme Court order on this that’s very clear. It's a law by itself. The order has laid down the procedure to recover losses from people who've caused the damage and it’s an elaborate one. We already have different kinds of laws, but the SC order has come in handy. We're also studying the UP ordinance. Both put together, we will make it much stronger. We're very serious about making good the losses by rioters themselves so that a message is sent to those who vandalise public and private property.

Following the incident, the government wants to hold a meeting with social media platforms.

Yes. Most issues now are being triggered on social media. There are no checks and balances. Someone somewhere in the Middle East can post something that can trigger violence here. Lots of things are not within the reach of the Home department. Taking action after something happens is one thing, but I feel the need of the hour is prevention. Platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram have the technology. There has to be some filter on materials that are inflammatory and breach peace and tranquility. We want to discuss this and I’m sure they will cooperate with us.

Police reforms have largely remained on paper across India. Is Karnataka any different?

Police reforms are at different stages at the Centre and in the states. I’ve started certain reforms without getting into the larger aspects. We've started administrative reforms. I've asked my senior officers to give me a comprehensive report on maintenance of law and order, crime detection, increasing prosecution success, the service condition of the police personnel and so on. They will probably come up with comprehensive solutions for all this. We want to have a roadmap for the next 10 years. We want the police to have a respectful, honourable position in society through their work.

But can the police as an institution be insulated from political interference?

For decades, the administration and politics have been intertwined in India. Now, we have to unwind that. When the entire system is unwinded, police will be independent. We are insulating the police from political interference in cases and we are trying to insulate the police when it comes to postings, thanks to the police board that we have now. But comprehensive change will happen once the system changes. Police can't be treated away from the system.

You have announced a war on drugs. What’s the situation in Karnataka like?

Drug menace goes beyond the state's borders. Drugs are being transported from outside the state and the country. We have controlled checks on borders. We have seized more drugs in the last six months than we have in a few years. We even broke into the ‘Dark Web’, and I think we’re the first state to do that. Earlier, only consumers and peddlers were nabbed. We’re going deeper to nab the kingpins as well. That’s why we were able to arrest some Canadians and Africans. We've also started using the anti-drug law effectively: A culprit booked will go to jail compulsorily for one year. Once schools and colleges start, a huge campaign will be taken up. I've already warned the managements of colleges and hostels that they will be held accountable if drugs are found on their campuses.