Congress must not compromise on its secularism: Siddu

NT Correspondent

Reminding those present of the Ahinda movement with which he was once associated, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah said without bothering about other’s opinion, the Congress party must ensure protection to the backward classes, Dalits, minorities and oppressed classes.

“We need to have clarity on secularism”, he told the KPCC Executive Committee Meeting in which former Congress President Rahul Gandhi participated on Friday. The nation does not belong to any particular community as India got its independence due to the sacrifice by Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and others. The Congress party must work with more aggression to protect secularism enshrined in the Constitution. Two top leaders of the Congress, AICC President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are not ready for any compromise in this regard, he added.

The BJP government in the state is intent on keeping the communal agenda alive and pave way for a communal confrontation. First they implemented the anti-conversion law followed by anti-cow slaughter law and now they have brought up the hijab, Bhagavadgita and halal meat cut issues, he said.

Siddaramaiah felt hijab was not a controversy at all since it has been in practice in Islam for hundreds of years. The government should have sorted it out in the initial days and prevented it from becoming a nationwide row. Due to the support of the state government, the RSS, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Mahasabha have made it a big issue. The SDPI is also behind it, he claimed adding, .

“I had demanded a ban on all these organisations in the State Assembly but the government did not respond. The BJP is trying to polarise votes keeping in view the 2023 Assembly polls”.