BJP creating issues to break unity, spirit of youth in Karnataka: Congress

Students carrying placards take part in a demonstration in Kolkata on 9 February 2022, to protest after students at government-run high schools in India's Karnataka state were told not to wear hijabs in the premises of the institute.AFP

Amid the ongoing developments around the hijab controversy in Karnataka, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Wednesday wrote a letter to students of the state wherein he alleged that the BJP-led Karnataka government's 'vested interests' are creating unwarranted issues just to "break the unity and spirit of Karnataka's students and youth".

In the letter, the Congress leader wrote, "Multilingual, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural identity of Bangalore and Karnataka has become a guiding principle of our growth. Mired by the stench of corruption and misgovernance, the BJP government of Karnataka and its vested interests are creating unwarranted issues just to break the unity and spirit of Karnataka's students and youth."

He further said, "Student community has faced a serious setback in academics and acquiring gainful knowledge for last two years due to Covid as also BJP government's sheer incompetence to meet the challenge. There are many exams coming up, PUC exams being the most important. When our students are busy in preparing for the exams, they want Karnataka's students to fight with each other on symbols and with stones and knives."

The Congress general secretary recalled contributions by BR Ambedkar towards the field of education in the country and said that education is the most powerful weapon.

"Please engrave it in your hearts. They want to end the academic life of the students even before it begins. This is being done by a government infamous for 40 per cent Commission, plagued by the 'Crypto-Currency Scandal', 'reaching the highest echelons of power and an ongoing fratricidal war in BJP to replace the CM and cabinet ministers. As all else failed, they want to use our children to deflect attention away from their failures," stated the Congress leader.

The Congress leader highlighted that if the students and our children succumb to their nefarious design, then their future will be jeopardised at the altar of their politics.

"Also, the freedom and equality that the constitution gave us would be meaningless. Let's reject this agenda of hate and continue being friends, holding hands and walking together for a better future. In this land of Holy Shankaracharya, Ramanuja and Basavanna, the Hindu-Muslim-Christian-Buddhist-Parsis have co-existed for thousands of years. In,fact, we have come to respect each other's culture and practices with pride," said Surjewala.

"I call upon the parents as also our students and children to not let the self-serving rhetoric of the 1 per cent of the fanatics on either side to sacrifice your future. They are not interested in your education, your academic excellence, your bright future but only in propping up their failed political interests. Let us all take a step towards educational excellence and progress of the state and country while upholding unity in diversity," he added.