Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party for “politicizing” the arrest of a kar sevak (volunteer) in Hubli and said his government will not indulge in the politics of hate. “Don’t we need to punish those who have done wrong? Are they (BJP) protesting saying that they should not be punished?” Siddaramaiah asked while speaking to reporters at his home office in Krishna here. Kar Sevak, Shrikant Pujari, was recently arrested for his alleged involvement in the violence after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992.
The arrest was made in a long-pending case and police said it was a routine procedure to trace accused persons in such cases. , However, the opposition BJP held protests across the state over the arrests and accused the state government of arresting activists of Hindutva organizations at a time when the Ram temple is being inaugurated in Ayodhya. Siddaramaiah said, “You should ask them what is their intention behind protesting now. They (BJP leaders) are only doing politics.
We take action only against those who commit crimes.” Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashok on Wednesday criticized the Siddaramaiah government for the arrests, saying the situation in the state is such that someone is sent to jail for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. During the BJP’s protest march in Hubli against the arrest, Ashok said, “If you raise ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan in Karnataka, you will be sent to jail.
There is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government at the centre, so we are not afraid of all this.” , Karnataka LOP also accused Congress of opposing the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Terming the arrest of Karsevak as politically motivated, he said that 69,000 cases are pending in the state. Ashok said, “Srikant Pujari was arrested on a day when the court was on vacation for three days. He is a very poor auto driver. It is not right to arrest such a poor man.” They demanded suspension of the police officers who ordered the arrest of Karsevak.
