BJP senior Karnataka leader Anwar Manippady on Tuesday, December 28, said that he will not be attending the two-day state Executive Committee meeting being held in Hubballi, despite being a member because of the “attitude of the party leaders”. "I am an invitee also. I am the Executive Committee member of the party. I just returned from Mangaluru and at the last moment, I thought I would not go (to the meeting) because the attitude of them is not welcoming for us to go there. So, I won't go there," Manipaddy told IANS.
"I have written enough and I have passed on the message to the seniors of the party... they do not seem to be taking care. I am not bothered about being thrown out of the party. I have not come to politics to make money. I have always been an open person. I was never scared of anybody and in future also, I will never be scared of anybody," he asserted. When asked about the present BJP government in the state, he said, "The concept of 'Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas' has totally been neglected and not happening at all... such a good concept has gone. In fact, they are going against it by totally neglecting minorities, especially Muslims."
Referring to how the High Court recently questioned the state government over the laws under which loudspeakers are allowed in mosques, Manippady said, "Everyone has got equal rights in this country. Sound pollution rules should apply to everyone. Why only mosques? In mosques, the maximum time taken for the offering of prayers is 15 minutes. There are some temples where kirtans/bhajans goes on from morning till evening. That's bad. How do you expect harmony between majority and minority communities? On one hand, Prime Minister Modi is trying his best, in Karnataka successive regime of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and now Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai have done nothing about it," he alleged.
Manipaddy also accused the state government of taking no action against encroachments of Wakf properties, despite the Supreme Court order to look into the report submitted to the government, and alleged the culprits have indulged in heavy bribery.
"It has been brought to notice of party seniors umpteen number of times. But, there is no use and they don't even respond. Nothing substantial is happening. Karnataka is in a bad situation now. I think Karnataka people should wake themselves up and think of a decent rule. This is such a rich and one of most developed state in the country, but we are going backwards and no progressive work has taken place at all," he said.