Congress targeting RSS only to appease minorities: CM Bommai
Bengaluru, Oct 20: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said the Congress has been targeting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) only to allegedly appease the minorities.
"In the by-polls, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress are not getting any other topic. Hence, they are dragging RSS into the byelection campaign.
"They are commenting on RSS with a hope that they will get the votes of the minorities but they will never succeed in their efforts," Bommai said in village Naregalla in the bypoll-bound Hanagal Assembly constituency.
The Chief Minister was here to campaign for the BJP candidate Shivaraj Sajjanar who has a direct fight with Srinivas Mane of Congress and Niyaz Sheikh of the JD(S).
Replying to query on Congress leaders, especially Siddaramaiah, making allegations against him and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Bommai said he would refrain from commenting on the statements because they were too petty for him to respond.
"Their trifling statements will not help them win in Sindagi and Hanagal Assembly by-polls. People of Hanagal have trust in us (BJP). I am confident that the people of Hanagal constituency will elect Shivaraj Sajjan with a huge victory margin," Bommai said.
Bommai refused to also react to former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy's comments on the RSS.
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Bond between Assamese Muslims, Hindus very strong: Author Wasbir Hussain
Guwahati (PTI): The bond between Assamese Hindus and Assamese Muslims is very strong and no one can easily break the traditional friendship between the two communities, Wasbir Hussain, author and executive director of Centre for Development and Peace Studies, has said.
Addressing the fourth anniversary celebrations of the Assamese Syed Welfare Trust, an organisation representing the Assamese Syeds, Hussain on Sunday urged Gauhati University to start a chair in the name of Azan Pir, a 17th-century Muslim reformer and Sufi saint, on the subject of 'inter-faith harmony or harmony of communities'.
Assamese Syeds are one of the five Muslim groups officially recognised by the Assam government as indigenous communities of the state.
Hussain said except religion, there is no difference between Assamese Hindus and Assamese Muslims. Their language is the same, culture is the same, food habits are the same and they dress the same way, he said.
"I strongly believe that no one can easily break the traditional bond of friendship between Assamese Hindus and Assamese Muslims," he said.
Hussain, who is also the editor-in-chief of Guwahati-based Northeast Live, spoke about how the indigenous Muslims of Assam follow cultural Islam compared to religious Islam and live peacefully with the larger Hindu population of the state.
He complimented Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for taking initiatives for the protection of the heritage of the Assamese Muslim community and its overall growth.
Gauhati University Vice Chancellor Nani Gopal Mahanta, the chief guest of the event, said people or communities can have multiple identities that transcend religion.
He cited the example of Assamese Muslims and Syeds who are descendants of Sufi saint Azan Pir, saying they are part of the greater Assamese society.
Mahanta assured that he will push for the Assamese Syed Welfare Trust's proposal to introduce the Azan Pir chair in Gauhati University and that he will work towards republishing the works of renowned Assamese writer Syed Abdul Malik's 'Jikirs Aru Jari'.
Assamese Syed Welfare Trust president Syed Abdul Rashid Ahmed also spoke on the occasion.
