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Police complaint against Karnataka BJP leader for ‘racist’ attack on Kharge
The BJP leader kicked off a controversy after he allegedly made objectionable reference to the complexion of the Congress chief at Thirthahalli in Shivamogga
Two separate police complaints have been filed against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Karnataka home minister Araga Jnanendra at different police stations over his alleged ‘racist’ remarks against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge during a gathering on Tuesday in Shivamogga district.
A complaint was lodged at the Thirthahalli police station on Thursday by Dalit leader Harshendra Kumar against Jnanendra, alleging “casteist abuse”.
“… The incident has caused great pain to the Dalits and other communities. We request you to lodge a complaint under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act since caste abuses in public is a punishable offence,” read the complaint from Kumar.
Another complaint was filed by the Karnataka Congress on Wednesday at High Grounds police station in Bengaluru, demanding action against the BJP leader.
The Congress also demanded that the BJP must sack Jnanendra from the party.
On Tuesday, the BJP leader kicked off a controversy after he allegedly made objectionable reference to the complexion of the Congress chief.
The former minister made the alleged remarks at Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district while addressing a protest rally against the Kasturirangan committee report on Western Ghats.
Jnanendra, while taking a dig at Karnataka’s forest minister Eshwar Khandre, who hails from the same Kalyana-Karnataka region as Kharge, said, “It is our misfortune that the forest minister is from that region (Kalyana-Karnataka), which doesn’t have a forest. They don’t know what a plant, tree or its shade is. Under the scorching heat, people there turn black (dark). We will know it by looking at Kharge.”
Taking exception to his comments, rural development and panchayat raj minister Priyank Kharge said that Jnanendra’s comment is not just ‘his words’, but it reeks of Keshava Krupa’s influence.
Taking to Twitter Priyank Kharge said: “The words you (Jnanendra) spoke are not just yours alone, they are the words influenced by Keshava Krupa (state headquarters of the RSS). They are the intolerant words hidden deep inside the BJP against the exploited.”
“Those who had exploited the working masses and eaten free fruits of their labour in the name of Varnashrama for centuries might have fair skin. Those who work hard and eat with dignity have their skin blackened by the Sun. If Jnanendra toils hard for a day, his skin will also turn dark,” Priyank Kharge said.
Following the backlash, the BJP leader on Wednesday expressed an apology for his alleged remarks and said he has immense respect towards Mallikarjun Kharge.
“I was addressing a gathering of party workers over the statement of forest minister Eshwar Khadre regarding the implementation of the Kasturi Rangan report which is a death sentence for people of the Malnad region. I was criticising him and mistakenly took (Mallikarjun) Kharge’s name. I apologise for the same,” Jnanendra said.
