While thousands of people wait for food and clothing at various relief camps in Karnataka, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s brother HD Revanna, who is also the Minister of Public works, is seen throwing biscuit packets at people in a relief camp in Hassan district.
In the video, Revanna is seen throwing biscuit packets at women and children, most of whom are patiently sitting in front of him at a relief centre at Ramanathapura in Hassan district. Surrounded by men, one man passes the minister a packet of biscuit, and instead of handing it over to the flood-affected, Revanna instead flings it one by one to the women and children. The video, which went viral resulted in Revanna receiving serious flak and he is now being condemned for his actions. He was called out for being insensitive by media, Facebook and Twitter users.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, HD Revanna said that he did not “fling the biscuit packets with the intention of insulting anyone”.
“It was not intentional and I did not want to insult anyone. I could not reach the women and children at the back so I threw it,” he said.
Coming to his brother’s rescue, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Monday defended Revanna’s actions saying there wasn’t enough space for him to move around the camp and distribute the biscuit packets. Rushing to Revanna’s rescue, Kumaraswamy said, “I saw the issue on some TV channels. I have crosschecked and it came to my notice that there was no space for him (Revanna) to move. He is also pained by the incident. If he had asked someone else to distribute the biscuits, then this would not have happened,” Kumaraswamy said.
Defending his father, General Secretary of JD(S) Prajwal Revanna said that his father was a “humble person who wanted to help flood-hit victims.
“My father is a humble person. He was concerned for those who were in the relief camps and he visited to give them food and supplies,” Prajwal Revanna told reporters.
Reacting to the incident, BJP MLA from Chikkamagaluru CT Ravi said that it is “not in India’s culture to treat people badly”.
“Responding to the people’s pain is our duty. It is not in our culture to behave in such a way to people in distress,” CT Ravi said.
This is HD Revanna, Karnataka PWD Minister throwing biscuit packs at people who lost homes, crops due to rain, flood on Sunday in Hassan.
— nolan pinto (@nolanentreeo) August 21, 2018
I feel disgusted seeing this. If you cannot give, then do not. But please do not throw food. pic.twitter.com/funCX55L8O