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Journalism of Courage
A Karnataka BJP MLA’s speech where he spoke about working in a secular manner without discriminating against minorities has irked some members of right-wing groups in the poll-bound state’s coastal Dakshina Kannada district.
While campaigning for elections at Kinnigoli near Mangaluru last week, Moodabidri MLA Umanath Kotian said that he did not subscribe to some views of BJP leaders. “What BJP people say is that Muslims and Christians do not vote for us, so why should we do their work? Nobody else will say this, only Umanath Kotian will because I am a straight talker. Members of our party have some arrogance and ask why we should do their (minorities) work as they do not vote for us. I am working in contrast to these views,” he told a small gathering.
Kotian said that he had worked for the development of mosques too during his tenure as MLA. “In the last five years, were there any communal riots or provocative speeches made in my constituency?” he can be heard saying in a video that went viral in parts of coastal Karnataka.
The speech, however, has not gone down well with some right-wing sections in the communally sensitive district, where a ‘campaign’ was launched against the MLA. Posts criticising the speech were shared on online messaging groups in parts of Moodabidri constituency against the MLA, who was elected for the first time in 2018.
While the campaign was attributed to the Hindu Jagarana Vedike (HJV), local leaders of the unit denied a role in the campaign. “His speech is presented out of context. There is nothing to criticise as what he said was right. We will work for him in the next elections,” Samyukt Raj of HJV Moodabidri said.
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