KCR must act against the trouble makers of all parties so that nobody can accuse of him being partisan
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been quick to suspend its Hyderabad MLA T Raja Singh for allegedly blaspheming against Prophet Muhammad. Now is the time for its rivals, especially Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, to show that they place peace and communal amity above political interests. Consider the case of the influencer Syed Abdahu Kashaf, who claims to be a social and civil rights activist. He has not just used but also defended the use of the slogan, “Gustakh-E-Rasool ki ek hi saza, sar tan se juda, sar tan se juda” (There is only one punishment maligning the Prophet, and that is beheading. In a video, which Kashaf himself posted on Monday night, he is seen raising the violent sar tan se juda slogan. He was also haranguing people to protest against Raja Singh in Hyderabad outside the South Zone DCP office. In this protest, he told a news organization, he did not have any intention of doing anything unconstitutional; and yet he shouted the sar tan se juda slogan, calling it his “religious belief.” The problem with such people is that they can’t detect the contradictions within themselves and between the mutually conflicting positions they hold simultaneously. The bigger problem is that there are a lot of people who hold similar views; a large section of people tend to agree with Kashaf, who is actually presenting the widespread Islamic stance on blasphemy.
KCR has become very critical of the BJP; he is indeed striving to become a challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. So he has to be even-handed in dealing with all manner of trouble makers. A Congress MLA reportedly said that he would take the law in his own hands if Raja Singh was not arrested. Raja Singh was arrested, though he secured a bail for himself soon after. Now is the time for KCR to assert that the law would be maintained at any cost, even if it means action against politicians of different parties. The Telangana Chief Minister should not be seen as tough on loose-talking BJP leaders and soft on the Muslim leaders who make inflammatory statements. It is a sad commentary on the state of affairs that politicians in all parts of India, whether it is Telangana or Uttar Pradesh, feel that maximum political mileage could be derived by milking emotive issues, even as a variety of issues—ranging from governance deficit and environmental degradation to unemployment—affect people. So, the BJP is trying to play the Hindu card in the southern states. In Karnataka, senior BJP leader and former chief minister BS Yediyurappa flagged off the Savarkar Rath Yatra in Mysuru, ostensibly to inform people about the Hindutva ideologue’s views and principles. In Telangana, the BJP had to take a step back because of Raja Singh’s remarks, but it is still all about emotive issues. KCR’s response must be rational if he wants to be seen as a serious national player.