“Both have spread the Covid infection. If Tablighis were responsible for the first wave, Congressmen are responsible for the third wave.” This is the tweet of the BJP’s state unit in response to Congress leaders ‘Mekedaatu Padayatra’ in a bid to hold Congress leaders responsible for the increasing Coronavirus cases in the state. The Coronavirus cases have increased not only in Karnataka but the entire country. It is not wrong then to raise questions or discuss the appropriateness of taking out a padayatra in such a situation. But another equally important question that must be answered is about the government triggering panic over the spread of Coronavirus when people hit the street in support of pro-people programmes while maintaining silence during election rallies or meetings. It is therefore a matter of suspicion if the government is indeed scared of Coronavirus or the Congress’ Mekedaatu padayatra.

It is also rather ironical that the State BJP in its tweet criticizing the Congress has tried to keep alive the media’s prejudiced reports that the Tablighi convention was responsible for the first wave. The Courts issued several rulings against media reports that said the Coronavirus spread due to the Tablighi convention and even rebuked the media. Similarly, the Courts dismissed the cases filed by police against foreigners who attended the conventions and indicted the prejudiced police action. The Sangh Parivar’s attempts to hold one community responsible for spreading the Coronavirus through the Tablighis failed. By again making the same statement that Tablighis were responsible for the first wave, the state BJP has tried to fish in troubled waters.

The main reason for the spread of the Coronavirus in the country can be traced to the ‘Namaste Trump’ show organized by Prime Minister Modi at Ahmedabad. If the Centre had imposed restrictions at international airports when the Coronavirus had just started spreading, the Coronavirus would not have spread its tentacles to this extent in India. The price that India paid for glorifying a President of another country by spending crores of rupee is the Coronavirus. To make the ‘Namaste Trump’ programme successful, all airports were kept open. The government did not become alert even after the ‘Namaste Trump’ programme following which the BJP-sponsored riots took place in Delhi. More than 50 innocent people lost their lives. Similar to closing the doors of the fort after it is looted, the government became alert to the Coronavirus after it entered the country. To hide its failures, it created ‘Tablighi Coronavirus.’ The media tried hard to protect the Modi government by projecting participants of Tablighi conventions as criminals. All these attempts failed in the Courts.

Even if BJP’s argument that Tablighi gathering was responsible for the first wave and the Congress is responsible for the third wave is taken into consideration, the party is silent on who is responsible for the second wave. Only if it were to morally accept that the election rallies in West Bengal under Modi-Shah leadership were responsible for the second wave, can it take moral ground to claim that the Mekedaatu padayatra is responsible for the third wave. How far have Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah followed the pandemic rules? Prime Minister Modi gathered lakhs of people in West Bengal and then congratulated the people for responding to the party’s invitation to attend the meeting in such large numbers. It is ironical that the BJP that allowed the Kumbh mela paving the way for the second wave is blaming the Tablighis for the first wave and the Congress for the third wave. It is high time political parties and politicians stopped using Corona as a shield. The BJP’s Coronavirus politics is most vile. It reminds us of the story of a pet monkey which stealthily ate curd rice from its owner’s lunch box and then smeared its hand over the mouth of a goat nearby to mislead the owner.

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Haridwar, Dec 22: Shankaracharya of the Jyotirmath Peeth in Uttarakhand Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati on Sunday criticised RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his "politically convenient" position on restoring temples.

Avimukteshwaranand said a list of temples destroyed in the past by invaders be prepared and archaeological surveys of the structures be carried out to "restore Hindu pride".

"When he wanted power, he went around speaking about temples. Now that he has power, he is advising not to look for temples," he said on Bhagwat's remarks.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Bhagwat recently said that it was not acceptable that new temple-mosque disputes are raked up after the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The seer said a lot of atrocities have been committed against the Hindus and their religious places have been destroyed in the past. "If now, the Hindu society wants to restore and preserve its temples, then what is wrong in it?"

The Shankaracharya also criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement on BR Ambedkar in Parliament that has triggered a huge row between the ruling BJP and the Opposition.

Defending Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Avimukteshwaranand said the scuffle outside Parliament was due to Shah's remarks on Ambedkar.

He said that there are a lot of people who support Ambedkar's ideology so everyone is using his name for their politics.

Shah has been under fire from several opposition parties since Tuesday over a comment he made referring to Ambedkar during a debate on the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha.

The next day, the BJP leader held a press conference and accused Congress of twisting facts and distorting his comments.

The seer also condemned alleged atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh and said that the central government should take strict action on the matter. He said that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh living in India should be sent back. He slammed the central government accusing it of lack of action on the matter.

Bhagwat has recently expressed concern over the resurgence of new temple-mosque disputes and asserted that certain individuals, after the construction of Ayodhya's Ram Temple, seem to believe they can become "leaders of Hindus" by raking up such issues.