In a blatant display of hatred and hostility, members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka’s Bagalkot sprinkled cow urine in the municipal hall and performed puja to protest the Quran recitation during the swearing-in ceremony of the municipal president.
Verses of the Quran were recited during the victory ceremony of Congress’s Parvez Qazi for the second term of Hunagunda Municipality in Bagalkot. Objecting to it, BJP workers on Wednesday got a cow to the assembly hall and performed special puja by sprinkling cow urine. #Bagalkot: BJP members sprinkled Cow urine after performing 'Gau Pooja' at Hunagunda Municipality hall in Bagalkot district. The reason was that the Municipality President Parvez Khazi started his second term of office with Quran recitation. pic.twitter.com/lnRt6os7Pk— Mohammed Irshad (@Shaad_Bajpe) August 25, 2022
The Hunagunda Municipality has a total of 23 seats, with Congress leading with 12 seats, BJP – 8 and JD(s) – 3 members.
On July 14, the election was held for the post of the second term chairman of the Municipality. Congress leader Parvez Qazi was elected as the president in the election.
Later, during the inauguration ceremony, he reportedly performed puja as per the Hindu tradition and later verses of the Quran were recited by the Ulama who had come to greet him.
Speaking to the media Qazi said, “We have no objection to cow worship. Had we also been invited for that puja, we would have bowed down with them. At the time of my initiation, Ganesh and Lakshmi Puja were first performed in my room. Later, when I went from the room to the assembly hall, the Muslim scholars who came to greet me recited the Quran and wished me well. But it is unfortunate that the BJP is stirring up a controversy about the Quran reading.”
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Rabia Shireen is a Staff Reporter at The Cognate.
