KARNATAKA: Hindutva goons assaulted a Muslim man in Shivamogga area in the Indian state of Karnataka for selling halal meat.
The Muslim man named Tousif, who runs a Chicken stall, was assaulted by the activists of Bajrang Dal a day after Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the state government would look into the “serious objections” raised over halal meat, with Hindutva groups giving a call to boycott it.
The Superintendent of Shivamogga told the media that Bajrang Dal activists argued and then attacked a Muslim vendor. He said an FIR was registered at Hosamane Police Station in Bhadravati and seven persons were arrested for attacking the Muslim man.
The Hindutva men were campaigning in the Hosamane area against halal meat. They threatened Muslim meat vendor Tousif. In a complaint to the police, Tausif said that the Bagrang Dal men asked him to sell non-halal meat at his chicken shop. They thrashed him and hurled anti-Muslim abuses against him.
Chief Minister’s comment on halal meat added fuel to the anti-Muslim hatred in the state.
Similar incidents were reported from parts of Karnataka ahead of the Ugadi festival where Hindutva outfits demanded that halal meat be banned, especially around and during the time of Hindu festivals in the state.
In Shivamogga district, police registered another case against the same Bajrang Dal men for threatening and abusing a Muslim hotelier in Old Bhadravati for not serving non-halal meat to them. A case has been registered on charges of abusing the hotelier.
