Yatnal’s allegations fall flat, unworthy of probe?

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: BJP MLA from Vijayapura Basangouda Patil Yatnal’s allegation that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah shared the stage with a sympathizer of the banned group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) appears to be coming apart at the seams.

The Hindutva ideologue hadn’t provided a name when he first made the claims at the Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi on Wednesday.

Moreover, at first, he had said there had been two men and some of them received funds from Pakistan. He was referring to the CM attending a programme organised by Muslims in Hubballi on Tuesday.

“There were two people there who got money from Pakistan and had contact with ISIS. They were on the dais. Sitting next to Siddaramaiah was a ‘maulvi’ who was in touch with ISIS. CM Siddaramaiah went to a meeting attended by such people,” Yatnal said.

Later on, he named one Tanveer Hashmi, incorrectly spelling Peer (a title) as Peera.

“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah shared the dais with ISIS supporters and terror sympathizers yesterday at Hubballi. Tanveer Peera is a terror sympathiser who has links with terror outfits across the Middle East. Attached Images are his recent visits to the Middle East meeting the terror sympathizer and radical Islamic operatives,” Yatnal tweeted.

He further alleged that the very same individual had threatened to kill him because of his cow protection initiative. Tanveer is based in Vijayapura and has been critical of Yatnal’s speeches hostile to Muslims.

However, Yatnal’s claim about Hashmi threatening him with death couldn’t be ascertained. Hashmi has himself denied Yatnal’s claims.

Pictures not of terrorists In fact, neither of the pictures Yatnal shared showed Hashmi with terrorists but rather public figures in Iraq.

The first of the two images was Hashmi conversing with Sharif Shaykh Khalid Al Gaylani Al Qadri, a cleric, back on February 10, 2013, which is nearly 11 years ago.

One can also see the Iraqi flag in the background. It is to be noted that both men have Sufi inclinations and claim to be descendants of the prophet of Islam.

The second picture is that of Hashmi being shown with someone wearing a soldier’s clothing near the shrine in Baghdad. It turns out that the soldier in question is an Iraqi security official.

What Yatnal and his team misses is the fact that the Iraqi military, alongside a host of militias fought and defeated ISIS, retaking Mosul back in 2017.

Yatnal just correctly predicted that Hashmi being shown with visibly Muslim figures would elicit suspicion.