By Prajwal Bhat
In communally polarised Karnataka, government agencies have often been accused of not applying the law equally to Muslims and Hindus. It’s a common refrain from secular activists that Muslims who participate in violence are investigated for terror links while Hindus are passed off as ordinary criminals without much investigation into their ideology or organisational links. Even when it comes to providing financial relief, families of Muslim victims are systematically overlooked in blatant disregard for Article 14 of the Indian Constitution that guarantees equality.
TNM revisited 8 cases of communal violence in the state from 2016 and found that while families of Hindu victims of communal violence received compensation from the BJP state government, the same compensation was not given to families of Muslim victims. And the charges against Hindu perpetrators accused in murders were diluted while Muslim perpetrators were charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The most recent series of communal killings in Karnataka took place in July 2022 when Mohammed Masood (19) was assaulted and killed by men affiliated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Kalanja village in Dakshina Kannada district. Masood’s killing was followed by the back-to-back murders of Praveen Nettaru (34), a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Yuva Morcha worker, and Mohammed Fazil (24), a young Muslim labourer who had no political affiliations.
Even though all three killings were clearly motivated by communal hatred, no government official visited the families of the slain Muslims.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and a bevy of BJP leaders visited Praveen Nettaru’s home on July 28, 2022 and handed over a compensation cheque of Rs 25 lakh to his family. The CM and his entourage did not visit the home of Masood who lived just six km away and was murdered a few days before Praveen on July 21. Masood and Fazil’s families have not received any compensation from the state to this day. Those accused of murdering the Muslim men were charged with murder under the IPC while those accused of murdering Praveen were charged under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
For the families of the Muslim men murdered in Dakshina Kannada, the state’s response has confirmed their worst fear – there is now a brazen bias in the way the state government treats communally motivated murders of Muslim men. “The Chief Minister did a disservice to his position by not visiting Masood’s parents when they were grieving,” said Abdul Harees, a close relative of Masood, still aggrieved by the state government’s response to the events of July 2022. “Both Praveen and Masood’s lives matter, but it is hurtful to think that the state government does not recognise them as equal. It makes you question whether all government departments, including the police, will treat us equally anymore.”
The families of Masood and Fazil were given a compensation of Rs 30 lakh each by the Muslim Central Committee, a collective of Muslim groups in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. But there was no compensation forthcoming from the state government…
This story was originally published in thenewsminute.com. Read the full story here