Rahul Gandhi preaches Bharat Jodo as Karnataka Congress flirts with radical Islam

As Congress scion Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra snaked through small towns of Punjab preaching the politics of love, 2,400 kilometres away in Karnataka’s Shivamogga, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) grilled senior Congress leader Kimmane Ratnakar for his links with an ISIS accused. The NIA has found Rs 10 lakh in the bank account of the grandmother of Mohammed Shariq, 23, deposited on behalf of the party. Shariq was injured after a cooker bomb went off in an auto-rickshaw in Mangaluru on 19 November. Ratnakar is the former MLA of Thirthahalli constituency. This is not a one-off case. One of the Islamist terror suspects arrested by the NIA this month is the son of a Congress leader. His photos with senior Karnataka Congress leaders are burning up social media. Reeshan Sheikh, the son of Karnataka Congress leader Thajuddin Sheikh, is one of the six arrested during NIA raids. He is seen posing for photographs with Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar and Opposition leader Siddaramaiah. Incidentally, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had withdrawn 175 cases registered against 1,600 activists of proscribed Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) and Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) between 2013 and 2018. These cases pertained to communal violence in 2010 in Mysuru, Shivamogga and other parts of the state. Karnataka is going to elections later this year. While there are widespread accusations of corruption and misgovernance by the ruling BJP in the state, revelations of leaders playing footsie with Islamic terror may offset those gains for the Congress. Large swathes of the state like Uttara Kannada, Old Mysuru and coastal areas have strong pockets of Hindutva. The Congress’s terror links could sharply polarise the state. And that almost always benefits the BJP. If the BJP succeeds in building an alliance with Deve Gowda’s JD(S), it would further weaken the Congress’s chances. That apart, a bigger question looms on Rahul Gandhi’s newfound politics of love, soft-Hindutva and attempt at sainthood. He has not once criticised or stopped his party leaders and cadre from associating with such elements. How can a leader who is seen to silently condone these dalliances with violent Islamists also talk about national unity? Islamic terrorism for centuries has been Enemy Number One of this civilisation. India has seen waves of jihadi genocide right up to the doorstep of this moment. Innocent non-Muslims are still being butchered in Kashmir, Bengal, Rajasthan, or Kerala. While constantly attacking the RSS for merely speaking up for Hindus, Rahul has never unconditionally criticised Islamic terror, without ifs and buts, without bringing false equivalences. Hypocrisy is not good at disguise. It gets called out, especially in public life and politics. Even a few more thousand kilometres of Bharat Jodo Yatra cannot bring electoral gains for the Congress unless its scion comes clean on the party’s stand on radical Islam. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.