Poojari said that such cases were noted to be high in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. He added that cases against activists of other organisations were withdrawn by previous governments.
Karnataka Minister for Social Welfare and Backward Classes Welfare Kota Srinivas Poojari has requested Home Minister Araga Jnanendra to issue orders to withdraw “false cases” filed against BJP workers and Hindutva activists in the state.
Poojari said that such cases were noted to be high in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. He added that cases against activists of other organisations were withdrawn by previous governments. “However, cases filed against Hindutva activists were not withdrawn,” he alleged.
Interestingly, Jnanendra had written to the then Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in 2019 seeking withdrawal of police cases lodged against activists from pro-Hindutva outfits related to an issue that took place in his Assembly constituency Theerthahalli (Shivamogga).
In his letter, Jnanendra had then stated that over 300 “Hindu activists” were arrested “under political duress” in November 2014 in connection with protests seeking police action into the suspicious death of a minor girl.
Jnanendra was then at the forefront of the BJP politicising the issue by leading agitations against the ruling Congress (led by Siddaramaiah in 2014), accusing the police of shielding suspects because they were from a minority community. However, an investigation carried out by the state revealed that the girl died by suicide “after being upset over her grades” and that the case “did not involve abduction or rape as was alleged”. A statement issued by the CID then read, “Neither was she kidnapped nor murdered.”
Similarly, 21 cases involving communal struggle and violence in the course of cow protection were dropped by courts in the state between October and December 2020, when Basavaraj Bommai (incumbent CM) was home mister in the previous Yediyurappa-led cabinet. The beneficiaries then included BJP MP from Mysuru Pratap Simha, 206 members of Hindu groups, and 106 Muslims.
Incidentally, the cases were dropped on requests made by ministers J C Madhuswamy, Prabhu Chavan, BJP MLA Sunil Naik (from Bhatkal). The cases were dropped despite written objections by the state police, prosecution, and legal departments in each case.
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