Bengaluru: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has been accused of appeasement politics after he warned of strict action against those speaking against Muslims.
His comments came in the backdrop of reported harassment of people from minority community following the Tabhligi Jamaat incident. Social media is flooded with posts blaming the entire Muslim community for furthering the spread of coronavirus by attending the Nizammudin Markaaz in violation of the lockdown.
Nearly 10 of the Tablighi Jamaat attendees have died of COVID-19 and several other potential carriers of the virus are yet to be identified. Moreover, the incident of alleged assault on ASHA activists in Bengaluru has portrayed the Muslim community in a poor light. In this scenario, the hashtag Corona Jihad is being widely used on Twitter.
On Friday Yediyurappa held discussions with Muslim clerics and leaders and sought their cooperation in identifying those involved in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin in Delhi besides soliciting their help to contain the spread of the virus.
A video of Yediyurappa’s interview to a TV channel where he is warning people against targeting the minority community over an isolated event has been going viral. Netizens launched a Twitter campaign #WeLostHopeBSY on April 6 against the chief minister for his purported remarks.
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“Nobody should speak a word against Muslims. I am warning everybody. If anybody uses a small incident to target the whole Muslim community, I will take action against them”: @CMofKarnataka B.S. Yediyurappa speaks a language alien to his party’s ethos,” tweeted a user.
“It is a open secret that if @BJP4Karnataka is in power today, it’s because Hindus voted for them. Yet whenever time comes their leaders won’t think twice to blame Hindus and threaten Hindus with cases,” read a tweet by another user.
However BS Yediyurappa had several supporters for his comments too, one of them being former chief minister Siddaramaiah.
Taking to Twitter Siddaramaiah praised BS Yediyurappa for his speech.
“Few people are trying to create disharmony in the society by targeting a particular community through false news. I welcome and support B S Yediyurappa approach towards such people,” tweeted Siddaramaiah.
“Some morons trending #WeLostHopeBSY because they think BSY told against Hindus. No he did not. Karnataka is doing tests of TJ more than any other state. BUT you do not and cannot blame the whole community for some people’s mistake!! #WeStandWithBSY,” wrote another user.
Many were of the opinion that B S Yediyurappa’s approach to the situation was right as a chief minister aiming to put an end to hate posts.
