K’tka Minister booked for his ‘Christians converting poor people more’ remark
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Bengaluru: In Karnataka where the model code of conduct (MCC) is in place ahead of the Assembly elections, a case has been filed against the Minister for Horticulture Munirathna for his alleged hate speech against the Christian community.
In an interview with a television channel, Munirathna was heard accusing Christians of influencing and converting poor people. The Rajarajeshwari Nagar police station in Bengaluru registered a hate case against Munirathna after officials of a flying squad, which is deployed to complain about violations of the model code of conduct among other functions, raised the issue with the police.
During the interview, Munirathna claimed that there was a large-scale religious conversion happening in slums and that Christians were converting people at a maximum rate in these areas.
He further added that if there were 1,400 people in a slum, 400 of them had been converted. He suggested hitting those who came for conversion and sending them back or filing a complaint at the police station.
Manoj Kumar, the team lead of the Election Flying Squad-11 of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), lodged a complaint against Rajarajeshwarinagar MLA Munirathna, stating that his speech on March 31 had disrupted communal harmony and dishonoured the Christian community.
As a consequence, the RR Nagar police have registered a case against Munirathna under various sections of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which pertains to promoting enmity between different groups.
According to a report in The News Minute, Munirathna, a former film producer who turned to politics, has previously courted controversy with his movie studio, Vrushabhadri Productions. The studio applied to register the movie title 'Uri Gowda Nanje Gowda', which promoted fictional characters as brave Vokkaliga soldiers who killed Tipu Sultan, causing tensions within the Vokkaliga community.
The move was met with opposition from the community, as well as from opposition parties who refuted the claims. However, after facing threats and opposition, Munirathna held a meeting with Adichunchanagiri seer Nirmalananda Swami, the religious head of the Vokkaliga community, and on March 20, he announced his decision to shelve the project.