Wake up, Karnataka! How voters are fighting hate speech with harmony

Sarovar Benkikere, 21, is as busy as any politician running an “election campaign” in poll-bound Karnataka. The engineering graduate from Bengaluru’s Dr Ambedkar Institute of Technology clarifies that he is neither a politician nor associated with any political party. Unlike a traditional poll campaign, where contesting candidates and their followers urge people to vote for them, Benkikere’s “fight is against hate politics and political apathy towards the disadvantaged sections of society”. His work sets him apart from politicians, he says.

Since last month, Benkikere and hundreds of young volunteers are travelling across the southern state as they promote communal harmony. The volunteers are pushing a youth-led initiative under the aegis of Eddelu Karnataka (Wake up, Karnataka) — a people’s movement.

Karnataka is going to polls on May 10 to elect 224 members for its legislative assembly. Political observers say the southern state under the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) administration has witnessed an astronomical rise in hate politics. From hijab ban to the anti-conversion bill, one after another incident indicating the BJP’s intolerance and bigotry towards minorities hogged the limelight, says a senior political analyst, who did not want to share his name.

The latest among the many is the scrapping of four per cent OBC (other backward classes) reservation for Muslims.

“I am perturbed about rising communal tension in my homeland. As a conscientious citizen, it is my duty to give peace and brotherhood a chance. I speak against hate because I believe in the Constitution. The country can’t be ruled by a majoritarian mob. India belongs to all,” Benkikere tells The Federal.

Benkikere is “excited and honoured” to have “icons” like Kannada writer Devanuru Mahadeva as “companions” in Eddelu Karnataka. Mahadeva tells The Federal that “his crusade is against the Sangh Parivar Sarkar.”

Mahadeva’s Sangh Parivar Sarkar (the government of the Sangh’s family) reference is about the ruling BJP and its close association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS.

Incidentally, the 74-year-old intellectual’s latest bestseller book, RSS: Aala Mattu Agala (RSS — Its Depth and Breadth), which Kannada readers have been talking about since last year, is a scathing examination of the RSS — the ideological parent of the BJP.

The small book with 64 pages written lucidly by the award-winning Dalit writer rattled the saffron brigade. Mahadeva has a one-line answer for the critics of his writings. “The book quotes MS Golwalkar, Veer Savarkar and KB Hedgewar — the men who shaped the Hindu right-wing organisation’s ideology.”

The writer, who always receives a rousing welcome from his fans, for freely and fiercely speaking against the BJP and its Hindutva politics, says that he stands with Eddelu Karnataka to protect India’s democratic, secular and federal character.

On April 25, members of Eddelu Karnataka from across the southern state and India came together in Bengaluru. Standing shoulder to shoulder with young men and women, well-known writers, academicians, filmmakers and activists urged voters to defeat the BJP in the upcoming elections.

Speaking at the gathering, Ganesh N Devy, writer and thinker, says writers of Karnataka like Mahadeva and Rehmath Tarikere have taken a stand to defeat the BJP as the party has “offended India’s soul”. “The BJP is anti-democratic, anti-people, anti-science and rationality, anti-federalism and anti-farmer.”

Devy, best known for the People’s Linguistic Survey of India and the Adivasi Academy created by him, urged people to vote and defeat the BJP.

Mohammed Yusuf Kanni, vice-president of Jamaat-E-Islami Hind Karnataka —a social and religious organisation — says India is a secular country and anybody can form the government. “We should be ruled by a constitutional government. The BJP never talks about farmers, minorities, Dalits and Adivasis. The Muslim people of Karnataka want peace and prosperity. We did not protest despite attacks, hate speeches and anti-minority laws to avoid disturbing the peace of the land. We will fight against all injustices legally.”

Social activist Tara Rao says enrolment in the voters’ list is the first step towards awakening people from their deep slumber. “It is not an easy process as we have seen names being excluded from the voters’ list. We want elections to be the festival of people and not politicians.”

Eddelu Karnataka is not alone. Groups like Bahutva Karnataka (Diverse Karnataka) and Hate Speech Beda (Campaign against hate speech) are going door to door and speaking against the growing polarisation in Karnataka. As these groups speak against attacks on Muslims, Christians and Dalits, they are also demanding politicians across party lines to address issues like unemployment, lack of healthcare facilities, lack of educational opportunities and inflation, to name a few.

Psephologist-turned-politician Yogendra Yadav tells The Federal that Karnataka, for ages, has inspired communal harmony, progressive thinking and farmers’ movements. “The BJP wants to make the southern state the hub of lynching and love jihad. The upcoming state election is extraordinary. Karnataka is the Kurukshetra (referring to the present city in Haryana believed to be the battleground between the Pandavas and Kauravas in the epic Mahabharata) — the battlefield to save Indian democracy. The Karnataka election results will set the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. It will decide the country’s future as the BJP continues to dismantle the Indian republic.”

When asked if opposing the BJP might be construed as being supported by rival political parties such as the Congress or the Janata Dal (Secular), Ashok Maridas of Eddelu Karnataka says, “It is an ethical civic campaign that does not get any financial help from any party and is not beholden to any party.”

Vinay Sreenivasa, an advocate and activist, from Bahutva Karnataka tells The Federal that speaking against hate and discrimination does not cost much. “We use social media to spread our message. We all spend from our pocket whenever finances are needed. We don’t have to spend money like the political parties do. We are all driven by the passion to protect the nation and its ethos of diversity, love and brotherhood.”

Benkikere says volunteers like him are visiting college campuses and hostels to meet young voters. “We have interacted with a lot of first-time voters from districts like Raichur, Mandya and Bangalore rural. They are excited to exercise their democratic right of voting. Our interactions are about real issues.”

The real issues for Eddelu Karnataka’s young volunteers are education for all, employment generation, job security and sustainable agriculture. “We want political campaigns to be clean. We need to free elections from money and muscle power, liquor distribution and caste and religious divisions,” says first-time voter Sneha MR, 19, an engineering student from Bengaluru.

Anand Gurumurthy, BJP spokesperson, Karnataka, says that citizen-led movements are not new to Karnataka. “We welcome all.” However, Gurumurthy denies that the BJP is spreading hate in the southern state. “We are a government of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas (development for all without discrimination). It is rather the Congress party that spreads communal division as they see Hindu-Muslim politics in all our work. We ensure punishment for those who have taken the law into their hands.”