'Congress must show courage to call a spade a spade'

UT Khader, the deputy leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, is the only Congress lawmaker from the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. The former minister spoke to DH's Bharath Joshi on the situation in the communally-sensitive coast, the rise of SDPI and how the Congress plans to counter polarisation. Excerpts:

What, according to you, makes the coastal region prone to murders?

There's a feeling among youngsters of both communities (Hindus and Muslims) that they must retaliate as they're not sure when they'd get justice in a court of law. After the attack on Masood, there was no immediate development. Then, Praveen was killed. Two days later, Fazil was killed. People are fed up and both communities don't approve of retaliation. But, there are fringe groups who want to show their identity. The Congress' line -- of not taking sides and saying everyone must keep peace -- leads to these fringe groups misguiding people. One must understand that if something happens in the coastal belt, there will be retaliation. Praveen's killing was to counter Masood's. The presumption is that the SDPI is involved. Even the SDPI wants this. Then, Bajrang Dal will say they can't keep quiet because Hindus will pull them up. So, a Muslim gets killed. This is the main problem. The police should be proactive, not just active. Unless a strict message is sent out that people won't be spared, there won't be fear.

How does one create fear? Encounters?

Encounter is the best method. But, it's not something that can be announced like a minister did. When I was the district minister, we discussed how we could create fear. Rowdies belonging to both communities were picked up from their homes and shot in the leg. You won't believe it, rowdies left Mangaluru. There was a queue of rowdies' parents, wives or fiancés outside my house.

What about peace meetings?

Peace meetings have lost their sanctity. Nobody will be in the mood for a peace meeting immediately after an incident of violence.

Is the SDPI gaining strength?

Our community members are being made to feel that the BJP and Bajrang Dal will live under fear because of SDPI. The SDPI is on the field for the last 16 years. In the name of volleyball training or kabaddi matches, youngsters from villages are lured and shown radical videos. Say out of 100, 50 get brainwashed. So, in the villages, there's this image they're trying to create that they're powerful. Even the police are scared of them. But, no religious leader supports them. They're dangerous to the community. There are better religious organisations like the Sunni Students Federation that are against the SDPI.

Congress is accused of withdrawing cases against SDPI when in power.

This is misinformation to the public by the BJP. The Cabinet can't withdraw a murder case without the complainant's consent. However, there are instances of people clashing with the police. The police end up booking 500-600 people and a majority of them will be innocent. During BJP government in 2008-13, there were protests in Mysuru. Even SDPI was there. A CrPC 107 case was registered and the accused were jailed. Under this section, only the tahsildar can grant bail. A Cabinet sub-committee was formed and it was found that 90% of those who were accused, which included Hindus, were commoners and another 5-10% might have been SDPI. The Cabinet note was written such that it looked like we were withdrawing cases only against the SDPI. That was a mistake.

At a recent meeting, Congress' Muslim leaders expressed concerns over SDPI.

Only those Muslim leaders of Congress who're not on the field will be worried. The SDPI, at the end of the day, is a political party. Their duty is to target another party. The SDPI can get Muslim votes only. So, they'll always target Congress to split votes. Their typical rally will have youngsters from Puttur, Sullia and other places. From every village, if you take 5-10 youngsters, we're looking at 500-1,000 people and this is made out to be a show of strength. The problem now with minority leaders is that they don't know what's practical. They get carried away with the hype.

What is the Congress' plan to counter the politics of polarisation?

The trend throughout the world now is 'community identity'. In Christian nations, they're bothered about Christians only. It's the same in Islamic countries. Obviously, in India, Hindus will think about themselves. It's a difficult task to keep everyone together by not wanting to hurt anybody. We must show courage to call a spade a spade. When the Hijab issue broke out, my advice was to not jump into it. It was a girls' school where 79 out of 85 students were attending class. Only six weren't going. All Muslim leaders asked the girls not to be adamant with exams just three months away. Without falling into the trap, the problem should've been solved in college among parents, students and the management. When the problem happened in Mangaluru University, I asked (students) to go see how things are in countries like Pakistan if they don't want to obey the High Court order. If such a stand wasn't taken, then the issue would have continued.

The SDPI seems to be coming for you in the next election.

If they contest against me, they can get 8,000-9,000 votes maximum. If they don't contest, my Hindu secular votes will go to the BJP. It'll be seen as me being in cahoots with them. They want to defeat me somehow. They're trying, but I don't care. As long as we are thorough in the booths, we're safe. In 2008, they contested against me. I won by 29,000 votes. This was a huge jump in my margin that was always around 8,000. In 2008, there were 11 candidates - BJP, me and 9 Muslims. Their plan was to defeat me by splitting votes. But, both Hindus and Muslims voted for me. In 2018 also, I won by 19,000 votes.