Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar has come under fire from the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state over his claim that the saffron party was “publicising” the Mangaluru blast case for electoral gains and to divert attention from real issues. Arguing that the blast may have been “projected in a different light”, Shivakumar wondered how the incident could be termed a terror attack without carrying out a detailed probe.
On Thursday, Shivakumar also questioned how the passenger who was carrying the cooker bomb could be called a “terrorist” without a probe being carried out into the incident.
“Was it a terrorist act like something that happened in Mumbai, Delhi or Pulwama? Who are these terrorists and what action has been taken? Without investigation how can they just call someone a terrorist?” Shivakumar said, specifically questioning the Director General of Police.
Shivakumar further accused the BJP of using the incident to gain votes. “They are doing this to attract votes. This is just their strategy to gain more votes,” he said.
Congress soft on terrorists, says BJP, demands apology
Reacting to Shivakumar’s statement, Karnataka minister for Kannada and Culture V Sunil Kumar accused the Congress of being soft on terrorists and said that its leaders have always viewed terorrists and terror acts through the prism of a vote bank. “Shivakumar has done just that by stating that the recent cooker blast incident in Mangaluru was fake and planted. It’s time the Congress launches a campaign stating “they (terrorists) are their brothers” as it would protect their vote bank as well as will give clarity on which side they are on. The BJP leader further said that Shivakumar should shed his “veil of secularism” and come out in the open to declare his “support for terrorists”.
Karnataka BJP spokesperson S Prakash also slammed Shivakumar over his statement and demanded an apology from him. “Who is a terrorist will be decided by the police after investigation. Coming out in support of terror activity accused is very dangerous. He is endangering the life of the people of Karnataka. He should apologise for his careless remark,” Prakash said.
Shivakumar counters BJP charge
Shivakumar, however, denied the BJP’s charge of going soft on terrorists and said he was questioning how di the police reach the conclusion that the Mangaluru incident was a terror attack.
“We are not justifying terrorism. We have lost our leader in a terror attack and we are well aware of that pain. My question was how did they get to know it was a terror act, before conducting the inquiry?”
Shivakumar said that culprits in the incident need to be punished but reiterated that the manner in which the BJP government had publicised the incident was wrong.