Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 20: The gruesome murder in the college campus of the daughter of a Congress corporator has provided an opportunity to the BJP to target the Congress government in Karnataka pointing out that “love jihad” was prospering in the state under the slack law and order situation.
Even as the Siddaramaiah government attempted to counter the BJP charges refuting any “love jihad” involved in the murder and said the incident was of “personal angle,” the bereaved Congress father of the murdered girl put his own party government on the accused box questioning what was “personal” behind the incident. He supported the BJP stand claiming that incidents of “love jihad” had been increasing in Karnataka and wished no other parents had to suffer like the way he had to.
According to police, the Congress leader’s daughter was stabbed seven times by a former student of the college she was attending in Hubbali. Cops suspect that he murdered her because she rejected his advances.
Neha Hiremath, daughter of Congress corporator Niranjan Hiremath, was a first-year Master of Computer Applications student at the BV Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology in Hubbali. Officials said she had known her attacker, Fayaz – who also studied with her at the college, but later dropped out – for some time.
Around 5 pm on Thursday, Neha was walking inside the campus when Fayaz confronted her. CCTV footage shows a couple of sentences being exchanged between them before Fayaz attacks her. Neha falls to the ground after being stabbed the first time and Fayaz goes on to knife her at least six more times. Fayaz then makes a run for it while some students chase after him and handed him over to the police.
According to a senior police officer, Fayaz claimed during interrogation the two had been in a relationship but she had been avoiding him of late.
The issue has snowballed into a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP. While the ruling party has tried to project it as an incident from a personal angle, the BJP has said it shows the deterioration of law and order in the state. Union Minister and Dharwad Lok Sabha BJP candidate Pralhad Joshi suspected that there was a love jihad angle behind the incident.
There is a complete deterioration of law and order under the Congress regime, he alleged, urging Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to stop minority appeasement politics and special treatment to a “particular community.” However, Home Minister G Parameshwara said there was no “love jihad” angle as of now.
But the girl’s father Niranjan Hiremath, a Congress corporator, also called the crime a ‘Love Jihad’ case and claimed that the accused had planned to “trap his daughter.” “The gang had conspired for a long time. They had planned either to trap her or to execute her. They have been threatening her in that backdrop. However, the girl had not heeded to their threats,” Mr Hiremath told the media.
“The whole state and country witnessed what happened to my daughter. If they say that it is personal, what is personal in this? Are they my relatives?” he added. He said he has seen several other such incidents and he hoped that such a thing doesn’t happen to anyone else.
“These things are happening. When we observe in various places, their cruel nature is increasing. The youngsters are going astray. Why they go through such mental state? We have lost our daughter. This shouldn’t happen to anyone else. That’s our prayer. We have seen others suffering like this. I feel that this problem of Love Jihad is spreading,” he said.
Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi also launched a scathing attack on the Congress government in the state saying that the C in the party’s name stands for “corruption, criminality, and communal violence.” “For any government, it is a salient duty to ensure that our children acquire the proper moral and ethical lessons in schools. Even the people should have requisite awareness in this regard,” the BJP MP said.
“People should have the belief that the law and machinery of a state will ensure that those who do wrong are brought to book. However, the Congress has failed abjectly in this regard (in Karnataka),” she added. The Congress retorted by saying that the state has the best law and order and the BJP was trying to impose the Governor’s rule in Karnataka.
“The BJP is trying to threaten us… Karnataka has the best law and order… They want to tell voters that they’re going to impose Governor’s rule. That’s what R Ashoka (BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition) is trying confidentially. They want to place the state under the Governor’s rule, that’s why they are doing all this drama. But they can’t do that. It’s impossible,” Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said.
A large group of right-wing activists have also been protesting outside Hubbali’s Vidyanagar police station and shouting slogans. Similar protests, calling for severe punishment for the Muslim accused, have been reported in various other places.
As protests rage across the state seeking strict punishment for Fayaz, his mother sought forgiveness and said that what her son did was wrong.
“On behalf of my son, I seek forgiveness from all people of Karnataka. I seek forgiveness from the parents of the girl as well. She is also like my daughter. I am not differentiating here at all. I know how they must be grieving. I am equally sorrowful. What my son did is wrong. No matter who it is, what is done is wrong,” Mumtaz, Fayaz’s mother, said.
