Former Union Minister and BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal has levelled grave accusations against Muslim leader Syed Tanveer Peera Hashmi of Vijayapura, branding him as an "ISIS supporter and sympathiser of terrorists." He has further urged the Union government to initiate an investigation. The Bijapur MLA also criticised Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for sharing a platform with him. Hashmi has dismissed these allegations.
Tanveer Hashmi, also known as Tanveer Peera is the cleric of Bijapur Sharif, a Sufi shrine in Vijayapura. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Tanveer Hashmi both shared a stage at the Muslim religious conference held in Hubballi on December 4.
Yatnal, a former Union Minister, on December 6 had alleged on social media that Hashmi is a known sympathiser of ISIS, alleging connections with terror outfits in the Middle East. He also wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, expressing concern over Hashmi's purported links and requesting a thorough investigation by central agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He shared photographs of the CM attending Muslim religious leaders’ meetings in Hubballi and also photographs of Hashmi, which Yatnal claimed were taken in the Middle East. Yatnal alleged that the persons seen with Hashmi in those photographs were terror sympathisers.
"Tanveer Peera (Hashmi) is a terror sympathiser who has links with terror outfits across the Middle East. Attached Images are his recent visits to the Middle East meeting the terror sympathiser and radical Islamic operatives," Yatnal wrote on social media platform X.
Rejecting the allegations, the head of Dargah Hazarat Badsha Peeran, Syed Tajuddin Qadri who was also the coordinator of the conference, questioned Yatnal's intentions and urged him to provide evidence to law enforcement rather than making unsubstantiated claims on social media. He said, “Making baseless allegations like this in public is not right. In 2016, he (Tanveer Hashmi) was one of the organisers of the Sufi World Conference. Even PM Modi had attended that conference, why was Yatnal silent then? Why didn’t he speak then if what he is saying is true.”
Interestingly, in the wake of Yatnal’s allegations, a report in the Kannada daily Prajavani claimed that BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and a relative of Hashmi are business partners. Both are reportedly partners in the 'Tourist Hotel' located near Gandhi Chowk in Kalaburagi. The houses and commercial shops of the two families are also situated next to each other near the Vijayapura-Kalaburagi National Highway in Mahal Ainapur village on the outskirts of the city, read the report.
Meanwhile, responding to the BJP legislator’s allegations, CM Siddaramaiah asked Yatnal to take up the matter with the Union government, reminding him that his own party was in power in the Union.
Addressing the media, on December 7, the Chief Minister questioned the timing of the BJP's accusations and his anti-Muslim politics. “Yatnal does the politics of hatred. He does anti-minorities politics. He should not do this to win elections. Further, he is a big liar. Now Hashmi has asked him to prove his charge. Let him do it. After all, his government is there at the Union,” Siddaramaiah said.
Siddaramaiah on December 8 said that Yatnal's intention was to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I have openly acknowledged my friendly relationship with Maulvi Hashmi. Maulvi Hashmi himself has challenged the Union Government to investigate the allegations against him. Now, PM Narendra Modi must respond to the accusations against him. Should there be any truth to the claims about Maulvi Tanveer Hashmi's connections with ISIS, it's imperative for the PM to order a thorough investigation and disclose any related details. If this is not done, then action must be taken against Mr. Yatnal for making such false accusations (sic)," he said.