Opposition backs government on Padarayanapura scuffle

Opposition leaders said they will stand by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in condemning the Padarayanapura vandalism and in acting against the perpetrators, but they cautioned the government against the incident taking a communal colour.

“The Congress condemns the incident,” the party’s state president D K Shivakumar said. “We support and stand by whatever the CM has decided to do. This is a crime committed by individuals, not a community. We don’t want this to become a communal issue. But you know the kind of statements being made by BJP leaders. From the beginning, there have been attempts to incite violence,” he said.

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Shivakumar held a meeting with Muslim leaders to discuss the situation.

“There is no justification to what happened in Padarayanapura and we all stand by the government. But there is a trust deficit with regard to the government since the members of the ruling party had a high-pitched campaign targeting one community and trying to portray that they were responsible for spreading the virus,” Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad said.

JD(S) MLC B M Farookh observed that the government and community leaders needed to take up awareness initiatives to instil confidence about quarantine measures. “What the accused have done is wrong. They could have communicated their misgivings, if any, with the officials. However, the larger problem is that people have fear attached with quarantine,” he said. “The government should also ensure that the quarantine process does not cause mental stress. For instance, yoga and meditation can be introduced to cope with stress during quarantine,” he added.