oppn parties Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Is Right, Karnataka Is Going Down A Perilous Path

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Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Is Right, Karnataka Is Going Down A Perilous Path

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-04-01 10:04:14

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder and executive chairman of Biocon Limited has called out the attempts to divide communities along religious lines in Karnataka. In a tweet, she tagged state chief minister B S Bommai and wrote "Karnataka has always forged inclusive economic development and we must not allow such communal exclusion- If ITBT (Information Technology and Biotechnology) became communal it would destroy our global leadership. BS Bommai, please resolve this growing religious divide". BJP leaders were quick to denounce her. Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP's IT Cell tweeted "it is unfortunate to see people like Kiran Shaw impose their personal, politically coloured opinion, and conflate it with India's leadership in the ITBT sector". He also alleged that Mazumdar-Shaw had helped in drafting the Congress manifesto and questioned her silence on the hijab controversy where he said that "a belligerent minority sought to prioritise Hijab over education."

But is Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw wrong? There are concerted attempts to attack the minorities in Karnataka. Starting with the hijab row, it has now been extended to halal meat and removing Muslim traders from temple complexes. The ruling BJP has dug out old and forgotten laws or rules to support its stand in both the hijab row and now the removal of Muslim traders from temples. It says that these rules were put in place by Congress governments but conveniently forgets that they were never used. Instead of repealing these divisive rules, it is now using them to divide communities or go after the minorities. These rows are creating a huge religious divide in Karnataka which is against Prime Minister Modi's professed idea of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas and also hurt the plurality of India. Not only Karnataka, the poison is spreading elsewhere too, as is evident in the BJP demand to ban loudspeakers used for azaan in mosques in Mumbai.

The BJP must realize that with Bengaluru becoming the hub of IT and IT-enabled services, the eyes of the international business community are on the city and the state of Karnataka. Any attempt to disturb the harmony between communities will have a negative impact on the business environment. Existence of conflicts scares away investors and Mazumdar-Shaw is not wrong in saying that it will "destroy our global leadership". It will also make the state a less investor-friendly destination. Hence, the Karnataka government and the Centre must not support attempts to divide communities and must take action to let people live in harmony and contribute to the overall development of the state and the nation. 

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