By IANS,
Bangalore : Karnataka’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government Friday said that the central government’s advisory asking it to protect minorities was “not warranted, hasty and politically motivated”.
“Where was the need for it when the state government had acted firmly in the matter and a judicial probe had been ordered,” Home Minister V.S. Acharya told reporters, reacting to the advisory sent under article 355 of the constitution. The article empowers the central government to take over the administration of troubled areas.
“It is a politically motivated action,” said Acharya, who hails from the state’s coastal region where a number of churches and prayer halls were attacked Sunday and where Christian protests Monday turned violent.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister S. Suresh Kumar said that even before the central advisory, the state had taken steps to ensure peace in the region and protect the minorities.
He said the state cabinet had decided to hold the police inspectors and senior police officers responsible for any attack on minorities and their places of worship under their jurisdiction.
“This decision has been conveyed to the police department,” he added.
The state government will send a reply to the advisory, if necessary, but it is not bound to do so, officials said.