Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has jumped into the call in Karnataka to ban Muslim traders from temple festivals.
“Karnataka has always forged inclusive economic development and we must not allow such communal exclusion- If ITBT (Information Technology and Biotechnology) became communal it would destroy our global leadership. BS Bommai, please resolve this growing religious divide,” Ms Shaw tweeted, sharing a news report.
BJP leader Amit Malviya, who heads the BJP’s IT cell, responded sharply to the comments, accusing her of political bias.
“It is unfortunate to see people like Kiran Shaw impose their personal, politically coloured opinion, and conflate it with India’s leadership in the ITBT sector. Rahul Bajaj once said something similar for Gujarat, it is today a leading automobile manufacturing hub. Go figure…,” Amit Malviya wrote.
“Good to see Kiran Shaw wake up to the religious divide in Karnataka. Did she speak up when a belligerent minority sought to prioritise Hijab over education or Congress framed rules excluding non-Hindus from Hindu institutions. She helped Congress draft their manifesto. Explains?” he tweeted.
The state government, which has largely avoided comment on the demand, told the assembly that restrictions on non-Hindu vendors operating on temple premises were based on a rule in 2002 under the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997.
The demand to ban Muslim traders near temples is seen to be retaliation over the hijab row, in which Muslim students across the state have been fighting for their right to wear the headscarf in class.
The Karnataka High Court recently backed a state government order banning the hijab in classrooms, asserting that the hijab is “not an essential religious practice in Islam”.
