Bengaluru, May 30 (IANS) Raising concerns over the law and order “situation” in Karnataka, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje on Friday said “none of us is safe anymore in the state.”

Speaking at a press conference held at the Goldfinch Hotel in Bengaluru, the MoS said: “Where is law and order in the state?”.

“Rapes are happening somewhere, murders elsewhere, and no one knows about it. None of us is safe anymore in Karnataka,” she stressed.

“People step out of their homes, but there’s no guarantee they’ll return. The government promises all kinds of guarantees, but not for life,” the MoS said.

“State Home Minister G. Parameshwara himself is caught in scandals and is under the influence of the mafia. With such people in charge, there’s no use talking about law and order in Karnataka,” she said.

Shobha Karandlaje recalled that in 2013, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah withdrew cases against the PFI and released 800 rowdies.

“Those rowdies went on to kill our boys. Recently, they tried to withdraw 46 cases, including those related to the Hubballi police station attack. If allowed, nearly 1,500 people with criminal backgrounds would have walked free. Thanks to the High Court for stopping it,” the Minister noted.

She also criticised Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao for claiming that Muslims are unsafe in the Mangaluru district.

“Is he a minister responsible for the safety of just one community? Do our lives not matter?” she asked. “What exactly do you intend to do with Karnataka?” she questioned.

“You are trying to turn this state into a goonda raj. At one time, Bihar was known as a goonda state. Today, people in Delhi ask what’s happening in Karnataka. We have no answer. Under the leadership of CM Siddaramaiah, Dy CM D.K. Shivakumar, and Home Minister Parameshwara, Karnataka is turning into such a state,” she said, strongly criticising the Congress leadership.

MoS Karandlaje further objected to actor and politician Kamal Haasan’s remarks during a film promotion on the origins of the Kannada language, stating that his comments amounted to an insult to the Kannada language and were condemnable.

She responded to a question by saying, “Whether it is Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, or any other Indian language, we are all Indians. We must live together in harmony.”

She added that many try to provoke conflict between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over issues like water and language, but the need of the hour is unity and peaceful coexistence.

“Kamal Haasan is like an outdated coin today; there’s no need to give him any value,” the MoS said.

Responding to a question about language history, she stated that linguistic experts have confirmed that South Indian languages like Tamil, Kannada, and Tulu evolved together.

“There’s no such thing as one language coming first and another later – they are like twin siblings,” she maintained.

–IANS

mka/svn