Minister Madhuswamy terms ongoing controversies ‘unnecessary’

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy termed as ‘unnecessary’ the controversies being created by right wing organisations in the name of campaign against the non-Hindus, and said all of them are human beings and living in one country.

Talking to reporters in Hassan, he opined “these are not issues that need to be controversial. But something is going on and I can tell them. It is disgusting to hear rows about issues such as mango, trade boycott and cab ban. The Congress party is in the dilemma whether to oppose or support it. They feel that the votes of that community are declining and for this reason they are keeping quiet. The controversy over the hijab was not created by the Congress but two other Muslim organisations as they wanted to grow above the Congress Party. Fearing diversion of the Muslim votes to those two organisations, the Congress Party was caught in a fix and not in a position to either oppose or support it”.

The minister said the incumbent government was not in a position to take any decision since the previous Congress government headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had made a law against allowing the non-Hindus to do business near the Hindu temples. The Congress leaders demanded the government to conduct re-exam for the students who refused to write the examination without a hijab. Will the whole education system not be destroyed if the re-examination was conducted for such students?

He said three languages are recommended in the National Education Policy (NEP) and any two languages have to be used. The Centre has been asking to use the Hindi language since it is easy in communication but it is not mandatory. The purpose of bringing the NEP was to give stress on the mother tongue and not to impose the Hindi language on people.

On Cabinet expansion, Madhuswamy said it was better to drop some ministers and give chances for the new faces in the interest of the party. However, he did not have any information about when it would be held.

Asked about the confused statements issued by Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on the death of a Bengaluru boy over road rage, the minister said Araga had made the statement on the basis of preliminary information and later he had corrected it. The situation of RSS controlling the state government had not come and that organisation was not behind any of the existing controversies be it halal or hijab. A few Hindu organisations were behind it. So far, the RSS has not officially reacted over these controversies. If Sri Ram Sena Chief Pramod Mutalik speaks, that cannot be said as the official statement of RSS, he added. Madhuswamy ruled out the Assembly polls in advance and termed reports about it as ‘false’ and ‘baseless’.

The BJP has decided to go before the people only after fully developing the State in the next one year. His party does not see any necessity for a pre-poll alliance with any party.