Following the revocation of the 4% OBC reservation for Muslims in Karnataka, Union Home Minister Amit Shah attacked the Congress, on Sunday, and asserted that the Constitution does not contain any provision allowing for religion-based reservations.
In a cabinet meeting held on Friday, the Karnataka government scrapped the four percent OBC reservation for Muslims and distributed it among Lingayats and Vokkaligas communities. It also decided to move OBC Muslims to the 10 per cent Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category.
While addressing a public meeting in poll-bound Karnataka, Amit Shah said, “Reservations provided to the minority was not as per Constitution. There is no provision in the Constitution to provide reservation on the basis of religion. Congress Government due to its polarisation politics provided reservation to the minority. Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) scrapped that reservation and provided reservations to Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities.”
To inspire the new generation by the ideals of Lord Basaveshwara and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda unveiling the statues of both the icons. Watch Live!
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 26, 2023
https://t.co/n5eMOANrcW
Amit Shah also criticised the politics of Congress and remarked that out of the avarice for the vote bank, the party never honoured the martyrs of independence. “If Sardar Patel had not been there, Hyderabad would have never attained independence. Bidar too would not have attained independence,” he noted.
The Home Minister also referred to the victims in Gorata village who were slaughtered by the brutal Nizam’s army for displaying a Tricolor. “In this Gorata village, hundreds of people were killed by the army of a cruel Nizam for hoisting just a 2.5-ft tall Tricolour. Today, I proudly say that on the same land, we have hoisted a 103-ft tall Tricolour that can’t be hidden from anyone.” Amit Shah laid the foundation of the memorial eight years ago.
Honoured to inaugurate the Gorata Martyrs’ Memorial in Bidar, Karnataka, the foundation of which I laid eight years ago.
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 26, 2023
In 1948, the Nizam of Hyderabad massacred hundreds of people for hoisting the Indian flag.
This memorial will immortalize their sacrifice and inspire people. pic.twitter.com/ovAd927j1l
In honour of the sacrifices made by the martyrs, he unveiled a 20-foot-tall statue of Sardar Patel and ‘Gorata Shaheed Smarak.’ The statue, he observed, is a representation of the crucial role that the country’s first Home Minister played.
Immensely fortunate to inaugurate a memorial for Sardar Patel Ji, India’s great unifier, in Gorata.
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 26, 2023
Patel Ji liberated the people of the Hyd-Karnataka-Marathwada region from the atrocious Nizam’s rule and annexed it to India. The memorial will stand to send a message of unity. pic.twitter.com/R2pGyEpHGn
“On the same land, a memorial of those immortal martyrs has been erected. This 20-ft tall statue of Sardar Patel is a symbol of the significant role played by our first Home Minister in ousting the Nizam from Hyderabad. That is why this area, this Bidar could become a part of India,” he mentioned.
Proudly unfurled a 103-feet-tall Tricolor at Gorata village in Karnataka.
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 26, 2023
In 1948, hundreds of people were killed brutally for hoisting the Indian flag against the wishes of the Nizam of Hyderabad.
Their legacy of heroism will thrive for good. pic.twitter.com/FenCS1RR1D
Gorata Massacre
The fiercest battle against Hyderabad Nizam’s forces took place in the small town of Gorata in the district of Bidar in Karnataka in May 1948. Although hoisting the tricolour became lawful throughout the Indian subcontinent on August 15, 1947, it remained offensive in some areas that were a part of the Princely State of Hyderabad. On September 17, 1948, the Hyderabad state was finally freed from Nizam’s control.
This village witnessed a slaughter by Nizam’s army, the Razakars, in May 1948, three months before the liberation. It all started when a few people hoisted the tricolour at Hannalli and neighbouring Halagorta villages in the Bidar district.
The calendar for assembly elections in the southern state has not yet been released by the Election Commission. However, the polls are slated before May when the tenure of the current assembly ends.
