Mangaluru murder: Several Muslim leaders resign from Karnataka Congress in protest citing law and order failure

Time of India

6 days ago

NEW DELHI: Several Muslim leaders from the Congress party in Dakshina Kannada district resigned from their party positions on Thursday, citing worsening law and order and the state government's alleged failure to safeguard minority communities.
The resignations were announced during an emergency meeting of the party's minority leaders held at Shadi Mahal in Bolar, news agency PTI reported. The move comes after the recent killing of 32-year-old Abdul Rahiman in Bantwal taluk, which has heightened communal tensions in the region.
Rahiman and his 29-year-old co-worker Kalandar Shafi were attacked by two assailants on motorcycles while unloading gravel on Tuesday.
Rahiman died from his injuries, while Shafi remains hospitalised. The incident occurred less than a month after the murder of Hindu activist Suhas Shetty on May 1 in the communally sensitive district.
Among the prominent Congress leaders who resigned were MS Mohammad, state general secretary of the minority cell, and K Abdul Rauf, district vice-president. The resignations were made publicly from the stage, under mounting pressure from grassroots workers expressing frustration over the party's response to recent events.
The leaders alleged that the home department has failed to curb the rising violence in the district and voiced strong dissatisfaction over what they described as the continuous neglect of Muslim communities by the state government.
Shahul Hameed, president of the minority cell, revealed during the meeting that chief minister Siddaramaiah had asked for a week's time to respond to their concerns. However, the leaders chose to resign regardless, stating that their grievances had been long ignored.
Reports suggest that mass resignations were submitted across various levels of the party's minority wing, from booth-level workers to senior office-bearers, in protest of the state leadership's inaction.