BENGALURU: A new row was spurted after the name of a Muslim bureaucrat was put on the invitation to a temple event. Several right wing groups in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district opposed to the name of district magistrate AB Ibrahim, in the invitation of a temple festival in Puttur.
As the district protocol officer, Ibrahim has participated in at least 25 meetings of different temple committees across the district. While his name was printed as a routine procedure, local wings of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal raised objections. BJP spokesperson S Prakash said, “A non-believer, or a person who is not working for the Hindu custom, cannot invite Hindus for a Hindu programme.” In the past, whenever such a situation rose, a suitable replacement for the person concerned was found, he said. As Prakash termed it a “frivolous issue” he also mentioned it was the “duty” of the state government to address it. “I feel that talking to the organisations and the DM will solve (the matter) amicably,” he further added. But the state government doesn't agree.
“Why all this fuss about a deputy commissioner who is a responsible officer, a district magistrate?” asked Karnataka home minister, G Parameshwara. “He (the magistrate) is not conducting any anti-Hindu activity which is not allowed. Why create all this confusion and disturb the harmony?”
Ibrahim said that there has been no written complaint, that there was no tension in the area and that he has referred the matter to the home department. The Dakshina Kannada district has been associated with religious intolerance, including communal riots, in the past.
