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Focus on eco slowdown, unemployment, ex-KTK CM tells Modi,Shah

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Press Trust of India Bengaluru

Citing surrender of a jobless engineering graduate in the Mangaluru airport bomb case as an example, former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to focus on core issues of economic slowdown and unemployment, instead of "divisive policies" like the CAA and NRC.

Accusing the BJP of trying to create rift between communities, the JD(S) leader said on Wedesday that the surrender of Adithya Rao also makes it clear that any particular community cannot be blamed for terror activities.

"Monday's incident in which Adithya Rao has surrendered looks dramatic to me, because he has come all the way from Mangaluru to surrender at the DG office here (Bengaluru)...It is still a question before me," Kumaraswamy said.

 

Speaking to reporters here, he said he wants to bring the incident to the notice of the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister as Rao is a mechanical engineering graduate and was said to be disturbed without proper job.

"Who has led him to such a situation, it is us..we talk about illegal migrants, CAA, NRC, NPR, which should not be our priority."

Instead, issues of economic slowdown and growing unemployment should be immediately looked into, Kumaraswamy said.

"Modiji please look into real problems... instead of that (core issues) you are creating an atmosphere that will be favourable for violence or riots in the country.

"From today's surrender of the suspect it is clear that only those from Muslim community were not turning into terrorists, as being projected, but a situation has come that those from Hindu community are also turning into terrorists," Kumaraswamy said.

Attacking BJP leaders for allegedly blaming a particular community for terror incidents, he asked as to what will they earn by dividing society.

Thirty-six-year-old Adithya Rao, who is suspected to have planted the explosive at the Mangaluru international airport, surrendered before the police on Wednesday.

The JD(S) leader claimed if the suspect in the Mangaluru airpost case was from Muslim community, BJP leaders would have embarked on a large-scale campaign against the community, accusing them of being involved in terrorism.

"They (BJP) are silent now, as the suspect is a non-Muslim," he said.

Hitting out at a BJP leader's reaction to his statements flaying the government's functioning, Kumaraswamy said he does not expect any "certificate" from them.

Noting that Karnataka was a peaceful state, he said recently after BJP gained strength in the state, there have been incidents of violence or riots here, and alleged that the saffron party's conduct was responsible for it.

The former chief minister on Tuesday had described the entire exercise of detection and defusing of explosive materials at Mangaluru Airport on Monday as a "mock exercise" and "farce", which had elicited sharp reaction from the ruling BJP which called him "anti-national."

Alleging that BJP was indulging in "communal and caste" politics, Kumaraswamy on Wednesday, while defending his comments, accused the saffron party of turning a commercial hub into a hub of terror and communal activities.

"At a time when the chief minister is leading a delegation to attend the World Economic Forum meeting at Davos to attract investment into the state, what message are you sending to the investors?" he asked.

"I still call it an incident of firecracker, why that man kept it (explosive) at the airport, government has to find out," he said, as he chided the bomb defusing exercise that was carried out amid full media coverage on Monday.

Kumaraswamy also claimed a section of officials were being used by the current dispensation in the state to create rift between communities, using pressure tactics.

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First Published: Jan 22 2020 | 6:50 PM IST

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