Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday challenged senior BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal to prove his charge that Muslim religious leader Syed Tanveer Hashmi — with whom he shared the stage earlier this week — is a sympathiser of terror group ISIS.
He also asked the BJP leader to get the matter investigated by the central agencies since his own party is governing at the Centre.
Speaking to reporters, the Chief Minister said he has known Hashmi for many years, and wondered why the BJP was “silent” during this time.
“Yatnal does the politics of hatred. He does anti-minorities politics. He should not do this to win elections. Further, he is a big liar. Now Hashmi has asked him to prove his charge. Let him do it. After all, his government is there at the Centre,” Siddaramaiah said.
“His (party’s) government is there for the past 10 years at the Centre. What have they been doing all these years?” he asked.
The chief minister claimed that Yatnal had tried to become the state unit president of the BIP and leader of opposition in the assembly but failed, “so he is making a baseless allegation”.
Yatnal on Wednesday alleged that Siddaramaiah shared the dais with Hashmi, “a known sympathiser of ISIS”.
“Tanveer Peera (Hashmi) is a terror sympathiser who has links with terror outfits across the Middle East. Attached Images are his recent visits to the Middle East meeting the terror sympathizer and radical Islamic operatives,” Yatnal, a former Union Minister, posted on social media platform X.
He also wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah. “It has come to my knowledge that Peera (Hashmi) has previously met with radical Islamic outfit leaders in Middle Eastern countries. What is even more alarming is that this is not the first time Peera has met with the CM; they have had multiple encounters in the past,” he said in the letter.
Further, the MLA claimed he has received credible information suggesting that Peera is bringing funds from Muslim countries with the intention of creating unrest in India.
“It is truly unfortunate that the CM either disregarded the advice of his personal security and intelligence or deliberately chose to meet Peera in order to further his own political agenda,” Yatnal further claimed.
“I firmly believe that it is in the best interest of our country to have Peera thoroughly investigated by central agencies, as I suspect that the local police are colluding with the state administration to avoid taking any action against him,” he added.
Claiming that this is a matter of grave national concern, Yatnal said it is imperative that NIA investigate it and take it to a logical conclusion.
Hashmi has denied Yatnal’s charges and challenged him to prove his allegation.
