'Don't buy Hindu God idols from Muslim sculptors': Fringe issues new diktat in Karnataka

The state of Karnataka, which has been witnessing severe polarisation in recent times, has been embroiled in a fresh controversy, with Hindu outfits calling on people to stop buying idols from Muslim sculptors. Srinivas Guruji, a seer from the Melukote Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple has requested Hindu communities to boycott the purchase of idols that are sculpted by Muslims. 

He claimed that according to Vedas and Shastras, idols of Hindus gods and goddesses should be sculpted by members of the Vishwakarma community, who know the Vedas and Shastras. A statewide campaign will be launched on April 15th in this regard, he said. 

Hijab & Halal row in Karnataka

The call to boycott Muslim sculptors comes amid similar demands against the interest of Muslims in the state. Earlier, Hindu activists had demanded the boycott of halal meat, with BJP leader CT Ravi terming its sale as 'economic Jihad'. 

Following the call to boycott, many shop-owners changed their signboards from ‘Halal’ to ‘Jhatka’ and crowd around Hindu meat shops also began to surge.

After the anti-halal meat campaign, right-wing groups Bajrang Dal and Sri Ram Sena demanded that loudspeakers be banned in mosques. They threatened to play Bhajans at 5 AM as a protest against Azaan from loudspeakers of mosques. This move was first called for by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) head Raj Thackeray on April 2.

Karnataka has been embroiled in back-to-back controversies in the recent past ever since the hijab protests broke out in the state. On March 15, the Karnataka High Court ruled that Hijab is not an essential religious practice. It was hearing the plea of students of Government PU College for Girls, Udupi, who sought permission to attend classes wearing a Hijab.

Weeks later, another controversy erupted over temple authorities not giving tenders to Muslim shopkeepers for opening stalls during festivals.