Bababudangiri row – Government’s no to Shobha Yatra

The coalition Government in Karnataka has decided against permitting the controversial Shobha Yatra during the Datta Jayanthi celebrations at the hill shrine of Bababudangiri in Karnataka, much to the chagrin of the BJP and Sangh Parivar outfits.

Amidst reports of grand preparations by the Sangh Parivar outfits for the Datta Jayathi celebrations to be held atop Bababudangiri hills in Chikmagalur district during December this year, Karnataka’s Minister for Home M P Prakash convened a meeting of senior police officers in Bangalore.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Prakash told reporters that the JD (S)-BJP coalition Government in the State will not permit the Shobha Yatra. He said the Government had decided to allow only those rituals that were performed last year when the erstwhile Congress-led Dharam Singh Government was in power.

“Shobha Yatra was not allowed last year. We will not allow it this year also”, said Prakash, who belongs to the JD (S). “The Government will do everything to maintain communal harmony and protect the sanctity of the shrine”, Prakash said.

The Government’s decision has come as a dampener to its coalition partner BJP and its sister organizations, which had been planning to take out a Shobha Yatra this year as the controversial procession had been banned during the Congress-led coalition’s rule last year.

Prakash, however, told reporters that the Government’s decision on disallowing Shobha Yatra would not affect the relations between the coalition partners JD (S) and BJP. “All these issues will be discussed during the meeting of the co-ordination committee of the two parties”, he said.

Referring to former BJP leader Uma Bharati’s proposed to visit to Bababudangiri shrine for the Datta Peetha celebrations, Prakash said the Government will not allow anybody to provoke people and incite communal passions. “We will take stringent action if anybody tries to fish in troubled waters”, Prakash said.

Despite Prakash’s firm no to the controversial Shobha Yatra, BJP leaders appear to be toeing a hard line over the issue. BJP MLA Sunil Kumar, who has been spearheading the preparations for Datta Jayanthi celebrations, claimed that there was no change in the BJP’s stand that Shobha Yatra should be allowed.

He said a delegation of BJP leaders will shortly meet Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and urge him to allow Shobha Yatra along with other rituals.
But, senior BJP leaders including Minister refused to comment on the issue. Minister for Water Resources K S Eshwarappa and Minister for Small Savings and Lottery Ramachandra Gowda, both of whom belong to the BJP, refused to comment on the Government’s decision on disallowing Shobha Yatra when reporters sought their reaction.

The hill shrine atop Bababudangiri in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka has been at the centre of a raging controversy for the last several years after the Sangh Parivar lauched a campaign for Hindu rituals and appointment of Hindu priest at the shrine, which had both Muslim and Hindu devotees.