Karnataka Congress Muslim leaders quit as anger over Dakshina Kannada murders grows

On Thursday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dropped in to meet Congress MLC B K Hariprasad, who hails from Dakshina Kannada, to discuss the situation in the district.

Later in the day, the state government changed police officers across coastal districts.

After several Congress minority leaders posted on social media that they would be resigning Thursday, minister Zameer Ahmed had tried to stop them, appealing to them to rethink. Ahead of an emergency meeting called by the Muslim party leaders in Mangaluru, there was speculation that the prominent faces may heed Ahmed’s appeal and delay their resignation decision.

However, at the meeting, the leaders faced much anger from workers, who slammed them for going back on their word, and sought justice for the victim. Finally, the leaders decided to go ahead and quit. Several district and booth-level workers also resigned.

Addressing the gathering before he resigned, Hameed said though the minority community had stood with the Congress during times of trouble, the party’s government in Karnataka had failed to rein in the BJP and Sangh Parivar’s “harassment” of the Muslim community. “Even our mothers, wives and children are asking why we are with the Congress when they cannot protect Muslims,” he said.

Hameed also talked about coming under attack from angry workers when they visited the hospital where Rahim was taken after the attack on him.

Known to be a communally sensitive region, the Dakshina Kannada district is back on the boil after three murders in the past month. First, a migrant labourer, Ashraf, was lynched, following which a ‘Hindutva activist’ with several cases against him, Suhas Shetty, was killed. Two days ago, Rahim was hacked to death.

After the latest murder, police imposed prohibitory orders in the district for the second time in a month and these will be in place till Friday.

Police announced the arrest of three youths for Rahim’s murder Thursday, and said they were looking for the other accused, adding that they did not know the reason for the killing yet. The three – Deepak Poojary (21), Prithviraj (21), and Chiranthan (19) – are residents of Bantwal taluk, and have been charged under Sections dealing with murder, attempt to murder and rioting, among others.

Home Minister Parameshwara said the government was determined to ensure that the accused paid for their crime. A day earlier, the state government notified a ‘Special Action Force’ to curb communal incidents in the districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Shivamogga.

Rahim, 32, was killed while unloading sand near a customer’s house. Kalandar Shafi, 29, who was severely injured in the attack, is in the ICU.

In the murder of Hindutva activist Shetty on May 1, 11 people have been arrested. Shetty, who had five cases against him, was the prime accused in the murder of Mohammed Fazil in Surathkal in July 2022. On May 19, one of the accused in Shetty’s murder, Naushad, was pelted with stones in Mangaluru prison and was transferred to Mysuru jail.