‘People are fed up’ – Congress plans to set up anti-ethical policing team in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara has said that a police unit will be set up to check ‘ethical policing’ and other forms of vigilantism, which are prevalent especially in the state’s coastal districts.

On Tuesday, Parameshwara told reporters in Mangaluru, “A lot of so-called moral policing is happening in Dakshina Kannada, especially in Mangaluru. People are fed up with this and some people are trying to scale it up, so we would like to stop this moral policing at once and take whatever necessary steps, so that it is not repeated again.

“We want to create an atmosphere of communal harmony so that people live peacefully. That is why today we have decided to set up a force within the police force to look into this.

While there is no clarity on how this force or squad would be constituted or what would be its area of ​​operation, the idea is in line with an election promise made by the Congress – that it would “act against individuals and organizations that spread hate”. Will take action” communities “. The fact that it named the Bajrang Dal as a group that could be banned resulted in a controversy, with the BJP targeting the Congress.

Soon after Parameshwara’s statement, Tejasvi Surya, the firebrand BJP MP from Bangalore South, hit out at the Congress government. He shared a video on social media purportedly showing a man who was “thrashed” for speaking against the chief minister. Surya wrote, “It is expected that the special force constituted will take immediate action against these two people.”


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Helpline for ‘Peaceful Karnataka’

Karnataka’s three coastal districts – Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada – are often referred to as ‘communal laboratories’, where religious divides dominate caste-based politics.

Karnataka recorded a total of 104 ‘communal incidents’ between 2020 and 2023 (February), according to former home minister Araga Gyanendra’s written response to the Legislative Council in February.

Out of this, there are 11-11 cases in Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada. Other communally sensitive areas include Shivamogga, which borders Udupi and Uttara Kannada, and Kodagu – where six incidents were recorded.

The Congress government has said it will review all laws passed by the previous BJP government, including the Right to Freedom of Religion Bill (anti-conversion law) and the Prevention of Slaughter and Protection of Animals Act, besides a ban on children wearing the hijab is included. School.

The Congress has also proposed to set up a new helpline called ‘Peaceful Karnataka’.

Minister of State MB Patil on Tuesday requested CM Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, Home Minister Parameshwara and MLA Priyank Kharge tweeted “No hatred being spread in Karnataka, and set up a new helpline called ‘Peaceful Karnataka’ to keep a tab on such incidents”. consider doing”.

This was in response to the BJP’s proposal to set up a helpline to report ‘legal atrocities’ of the Congress government, which it accused of targeting its workers. Surya, in a tweet on June 3, had said, “The state BJP will soon start a helpline to stop all legal atrocities by the Congress government.”

(Editing by Amritansh Arora)


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