Karnataka: Congress govt withdraws Hubballi riot cases against AIMIM leader and 138 others; BJP accuses it of ‘Muslim appeasement’

The Congress government in Karnataka is facing massive backlash after it decided to withdraw Hubballi riot cases against AIMIM leader Mohammed Arif and 138 others. The accused, who were part of an Islamist mob, attacked the Police and threatened to break and storm the Police station. They were also accused of inciting violence during the Hubballi riots in April 2022. 

They pelted stones, injuring police personnel, and damaging police vehicles and public property. They then launched an attack on a nearby Hanuman temple and a hospital, all of which suffered significant damage. The cases against them included criminal charges such as attempted murder and rioting. 

It is pertinent to note that the Siddaramaiah government is facing flakes as it has gone ahead to drop these cases against the AIMIM leader and 138 others who were part of an Islamist mob, despite stern objections from the prosecution, police, and law department. Sources suggest that the Congress administration dismissed these concerns, which has faced scrutiny over its handling of such sensitive issues.

According to reports, the decision to withdraw these cases was taken during a Karnataka Cabinet meeting on Thursday (10th October). 

Last year in October, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar wrote to the Additional Director General of Police to withdraw these cases and reconsider the charges. 

After his recommendation, the home department was tasked with gathering relevant case information, including FIRs and witness statements. The withdrawal of the case has received strong backlash from the Opposition, with the BJP accusing Congress of trying to appease the Muslims.

Slamming the Congress party for withdrawing riot cases, BJP charged the grand old party with ‘Muslim appeasement’. 

BJP Social Media Head Amit Malviya wrote, “The Congress Govt in Karnataka has withdrawn the Old Hubballi police station riot case, despite opposition from the Law and Police departments.”

He further stated, “The case, filed in Oct 2022, involved AIMIM leaders Mohammed Arif and others, accused of leading a large mob of Muslims, that attacked the police and threatened to storm the station. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had recently written to the Govt, requesting the case be dropped. Several police officers were seriously injured during the rioting and stone-pelting that followed.”

Lambasting Congress, he added, “This is nothing but Congress’s naked politics of Muslim appeasement.”

BJP MLC, N Ravi Kumar said, “Cong government is doing appeasement politics. It is supporting terrorists and withdrawing cases against them. While cases on farmers and students are pending, cases on anti-India elements will be withdrawn.”

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said, ” Under UAPA this case was filed, whenever a case is filed under UAPA, it is a serious case, it is normally used against terrorist-related activities…for more than 2 years, High Court and Supreme Court denied the bail…they changed the lawyer…some of the Ministers and MLAs from Congress wrote to CM and Dy CM demanding the withdrawal of the case…Police dept and Ministry of Law of the state govt opposed the withdrawal of the case and despite that they (Karnataka govt) have withdrawn it and in a way, they are supporting Islamic fundamental activities.”

Hubbali Riots

On 16th April 2022, violence erupted after an Islamist mob went on a rampage over an alleged derogatory social media post in which the user had depicted a saffron flag atop a mosque. The protest turned violent with thousands of miscreants participating in a riot that resulted in the injury of four police officers and large damage to public property.

Nonetheless, it is not the first time that the Congress party has faced a charge of Muslim appeasement on the account that it withdrew serious cases against Islamists and Popular Front of India (PFI) cadres.

Congress marred with allegations of Muslim appeasement, bolstering extremist elements like PFI

The opposition parties in Karnataka have often launched scathing attack on the Congress party for placating to Islamist elements and appeasing Muslim community through the state government’s schemes, a highly controversial move to include Muslims in the OBC category. Incidentally, under the Siddaraimah government,  linguistic chauvinist groups have launched anti-Hindi attacks, and the administration has taken steps to strengthen and promote the use of Urdu, prompting the BJP to charge them with doing politics of ‘Muslim appeasement’. However, the major scathing charge against the grand old party involves the allegation of dropping criminal cases against the cadre of the banned Popular Front of India.   

In 2006, PFI emerged after merging three Muslim organisations – the National Development Front of Kerala, Karnataka Forum for Dignity, and Manitha Neethi Pasari of Tamil Nadu. In its early years, it was headquartered in Kozhikode, Kerala. Back in 2012, the Congress government led by Oommen Chandy informed the Kerala High Court that PFI was nothing but a resurrection of the banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

In its initial time, the violent extremist group had a minor presence in Kerala. But thanks to appeasement and spineless politics, it became successful in expanding its presence in the rest of the country.

Evidently, the Congress government in 2013 dropped criminal cases against SDPI and PFI members. The previous government led by BJP, accused these members of being involved in creating communal disturbances in the state. These cases were related to protests and communal flare-ups in Shivamogga (114 cases from 2015), Mysuru (40 cases from 2009), Hassan (21 cases from 2010), and Karwar (1 case in 2017).

However, the then-Siddaramaiah government dropped a total of 176 cases filed against 1,600 PFI activists. This emboldened the Islamic outfit and it increased its pace and institutionalised the industry of hatred and violence.

The PFI was accused in multiple cases of murder, rioting, intimidation, and having links with terrorist organisations.

Courtesy of the lack of stern action against the extremist group,  the PFI had an active presence in 22 states. As per intelligence agencies, the PFI exploited the sentiments of the community in the garb of projecting itself as their saviour. The extremist outfit used this falsified image of saviour to raise funds, particularly from Middle Eastern countries.