After the Paris attacks in November 2015, all of France showed solidarity with the government in securing the country from more attacks as security agencies rounded up potential terrorists and closed mosques involved in radicalisation. But, when the Indian government acts in the interest of national security, some reactions are more than disappointing. On the eve of Republic Day, when 25 ISIS sympathizers were rounded up from across the country by the National Investigative Agency, six were picked up from Karnataka. Instead of supporting the arrests, the media advisor to the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Dinesh Amin Mattu, who enjoys the status of a Cabinet Minister, strongly criticized the arrests and called it victimization of minorities.



As the world wakes up to the increase in terror attacks, several debates are being organized to discuss causes and solutions. In one such television debate conducted in far-off New York, a participant cited the example of the LTTE as a prime example of Hindu terror. It was shocking to hear her speak thus. But, she is not the first. Many Congress leaders like Digvijay Singh, P.Chidambaram and Sushil Kumar Shinde have squarely blamed “Hindu extremists” for all terror attacks, including 26/11. Last week, as Mattu shed crocodile tears for those arrested much like Sonia Gandhi did for the Batla House terrorists, he also waxed eloquent on the rising Hindu extremism that springs from majoritarian arrogance.

“A lie told often enough becomes the truth”, said Lenin. It is imperative that the lie of Hindu terror is exposed before the myth is sold as an infallible truth. It is a misconception that the LTTE was a Hindu terrorist organization. The LTTE fought for a separate homeland for Tamils in Sri Lanka. In fact, the LTTE had strong Christian ties. Its ideology was secular Tamil nationalism defined by Marxist principles. Their top leaders including Prabhakaran were Christian. Prabhakaran’s son was named Charles Lucas Anthony. The Church used the LTTE as a pawn to advance its imperialistic agenda. The separatist group received training from the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organisation) and the George Habash faction, a radical Christian group, fighting in Palestine. How, then, is the LTTE a case of Hindu extremism? What is noteworthy at this point is the intervention of Sonia Gandhi to save Nalini, an accused in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, from the gallows. Is it now time to look at the angle that senior leader Subramanian Swamy points at – that of Sonia Gandhi’s financial support to the George Habash group.

Mattu’s claims about rising Hindu extremism are laughable, if one were to examine the chronology of terror attacks in the recent past in Karnataka. In 1999-2000, church blasts were carried out by the Deendar Anjuman, a Jihadi outfit, across the state. In 2005, the Lashkar-e-Taiba struck the Indian Institute of Sciences in Bengaluru with intent to kill delegates attending a conference. The serial blasts in Bengaluru in 2008 in which 9 bombs exploded, one person died and several were injured, were master-minded by Abdul Nasar Madani. The Indian Mujahideen, founded by Yasin Bhatkal of Karnataka, planted bombs at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, where an IPL game was about to resume. Just before the Assembly elections in 2013, Al-Ummah terrorists planted a bomb outside the BJP office in Bengaluru injuring 16 persons. In 2014, a Bengaluru-based engineer, Mehdi Biswas, was arrested for operating the Islamic State’s (IS) Twitter handle. In 2014, a bomb killed a woman on Church Street in Bengaluru. Only last week, the NIA arrested Mohammed Rafiq of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) for planting that bomb.

When a few church attacks took place during the BJP-rule in Karnataka in 2008, the Bajrang Dal and the state government were blamed for them. A judicial commission observed that a perception of the Sangh Parivar’s involvement in the attacks was created to tarnish the image of the BJP government. Interestingly, Wikileaks revealed that Sonia Gandhi wanted the Bajrang Dal to be banned at the time. Ironically, a Congress man, K.V. Thomas, is said to have conveyed to the American Ambassador that the Pentacostal Church was to be blamed for inciting trouble through forced conversions and distribution of inflammatory material. This is an example of Sonia Gandhi’s crusade against Hindu organizations. Last year, the “church attack” model was replicated by the Congress party to create fear about “Hindu terror” just before the Delhi elections. Investigations revealed that no Hindu was involved in the attacks. While the media and the Congress campaign tarnished the image of India and of the BJP greatly, an apology to the majority Hindu community is still pending.

When one is so obviously affiliated to the Vatican and is also the President of the ruling party in the world’s largest democracy, the power to change the demography is phenomenal. It appears Sonia Gandhi used her power well during the UPA rule. She achieved what the Church could not in so many centuries. Her party developed the necessary framework and tools to make the poor, poorer and the weak, violent. The elements of that framework included the Naxal movement, the separatist movements, the perpetuation of minority victimhood, the NGO web for stalling development projects, the politics of subsidies that keep people poor & disempowered, the deriding of Hindu Gods & spiritual leaders, the undermining of our security forces. The end result is that, a Hindu-majority India is a fertile land for soul harvesters today, all thanks to missionary Sonia.

Karnataka has been a successful incubator for Congress experiments in social engineering. Caste politics has always played a dominant role here. In 1978, when Indira Gandhi wanted to reboot her political career after the ignominy of her Emergency, it was Chikkamaglur in Karnataka that offered her the solace of a Parliamentary seat. The people of Karnataka changed the political course of India with this. In 1999, Sonia Gandhi won the Bellary seat at a time when the Congress took a beating in the General Elections. Karnataka is the biggest state in the Congress kitty today. Given these facts, it is no wonder that Sonia Gandhi takes special interest in Karnataka.

As can be seen from the various policies of the Siddaramaiah government, it is obvious that Sonia Gandhi has enforced the previously-mentioned framework in Karnataka too. This article attempts to put provide a glimpse into the politics of the Congress government since it took over in 2013.

Sonia Gandhi, at the cost of upsetting the old Congress guard, rolled out the red carpet to the rank new-comer, Siddaramaiah. His commitment to the Ahinda movement made him the top contender for the Chief Minister’s post. Ahinda translates to “minorities, backward communities and dalits”. He did not disappoint her nor dilute her agenda. His government has focused on incentivizing poverty and appeasing minorities. Despite mighty opposition from party veterans and despite a lackluster performance in the Lok Sabha elections, he has managed to retain his position because he successfully drives Sonia Gandhi’s agenda – to polarize the Ahinda votes. A slew of Bhagya schemes, meant to appease the Ahinda vote bank, have been announced. The government’s populism is extreme and the exchequer is facing such a crunch that the government went to the extent of announcing a luxury tax on ICU beds until a backlash forced a roll back! Meanwhile, a thousand farmers have committed suicide but compensation for most families is a pipe dream even though the Centre has sanctioned funds.

During the UPA regime, some members of Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council, were allegedly supporters of Naxals, LTTE, Hezbollah. A similar model is in place in Karnataka today. The Chief Minister of Karnataka enjoys the support and advice of Naxal sympathizers like Gauri Lankesh. He has inducted them in a Committee formed with the purpose of rehabilitating young Naxals who have surrendered. The Committee appears to be a front for rehabilitating veteran Naxals who desire cosy retirement while they continue to guide the anti-democratic movement.

This government has embarked on an overt minority appeasement mission at the cost of the sentiments of the majority. When rationalist M.M.Kalburgi was murdered in Dharwad, ‘secular’ fingers pointed at saffron terrorists and at the Centre for failing to protect him; notwithstanding that law and order is a state subject. The murder provided fodder for the intolerance debate in the country. Today, we know that the fake debate was triggered by “secular” forces to influence the Bihar electorate against the BJP. The Karnataka government, on its part, contributed to the debate by not going after the assassins to uncover the truth. To this day, there have been no arrests while the murder was misused for political gains in Bihar. That by itself begs an investigation into the murder from a political angle. At the same time that the Dadri incident troubled the conscience of ‘intellectuals’, Prashant Poojari was brutally murdered by PFI (linked to SIMI) activists in Moodbidri but neither the intellectuals nor the Congress government took notice. In yet another appeasement policy, the government decided to celebrate tyrant Tipu Sultan’s birth anniversary much against majority sentiment. On D-day, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad functionary was brutally murdered in Madikeri, by a large mob which included illegal immigrants from Bangladesh; reports say that the mob was mobilized and the violence was organised right under the nose of the administration.

Speaking of sentiments, Lord Rama is the maryada purushottham that Hindus worship and idealise. But expectedly, Rama is the target of anti-Hindu forces; for, he represents our culture and our faith. Ayodhya may not be in Karnataka but Siddaramaiah, upon directions from Sonia Gandhi or so it seems, has provided forums to his coterie to rake up controversy over Rama. A ‘scholar’ named K.S.Bhagwan, who after abusing Rama and calling for the burning of the holy Gita, was rewarded with the prestigious Sahitya Academy award despite public outcry.

The state government has pitted the minority community against the majority and also against the security personnel. While most countries celebrate the sacrifices of their security and defense forces, some governments such as this can go overboard to demoralize them. Take the case of the constable, Naveen Nayak, in the anti-Naxal force in Sringeri. He was arrested because he killed Kabir who was illegally smuggling cattle; the government paid Kabir’s family a compensation of Rs.10 Lakhs! Ironically, the same government failed to provide justice or support to the family of a brave police sub-inspector Mallikarjun Bande, who was killed in Gulbarga in a suspicious shootout, supposedly at the behest of an influential minority community leader.

The government has attempted to systematically erode the morale of the police and the bureaucracy. Upright officers have been harassed and transferred multiple times. Recently, Parameshwar Naik, the Labour Minister, transferred a lady police officer, Anupama Shenoy, for not answering his call for 42 seconds. A lady IAS officer serving in Mysore, Rashmi Mahesh, who exposed corruption at high levels, was assaulted by a mob but no action was taken against the culprits. Even more appalling are the cases of assault by the Chief Minister, ministers and Congress leaders on bureaucrats, policemen, doctors etc. When the upholders of law resort to violence and intimidation, it is indeed a travesty of justice. But in the framework that the Congress has built for achieving its devious goals set by Sonia Gandhi, the undermining of the security forces and honest bureaucrats is an absolute necessity.

The police have become a puppet in the hands of the government. While investigations never gathered pace in the Church Street blast or in the Prashant Poojari case, nationalist bloggers and activists are regularly intimidated. This government, through the media advisor, has a history of abusing social media activists who dare to criticise it and it is guilty of having them arrested over trivial posts. The curbing of the right to free expression is reminiscent of the days of Emergency. It is apparent that the Congress party will always remain inspired by the absolute power they experienced during Emergency.

There is no doubt that a larger strategy to undermine India is employed at many levels. It is unfortunate that political power is used as a tool for achieving it. It is not a case of Congress versus the BJP anymore anywhere in the country. It is really a case of mafia-style politics versus developmental politics. It will be a long wait for 2018 before Karnataka votes again and when they have their chance, hopefully people will make the right choice.

(Opinions expressed are personal)

By:Aparna Patwardhan

The author is an entrepreneur, political and social activist. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from Bangalore University and an MBA degree from University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA

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