After the series of chaos regarding Hijab, Halal and Ajan the targets have now seemed to be shifted towards the fruit sellers. Recently, Hindutva groups in Karnataka are claimed to be targeting the Muslim mango traders and their involvement in the mango trade.
Stakeholders have, however, decried the campaign as a move by “vested interests”.
According to times of India, Siddalinga Swami, the honorary president of the extremist right-wing outfit Sri Rama Sene, claimed that “mango markets are controlled by Muslim traders and it is high time poor Hindu mango growers and traders take over.
This will also ensure Hindu mango growers prosper.”
According to the newspaper, he added, “We are not telling Muslims not to do business; we are only saying Hindu youngsters should get involved in market-related activities and Muslims cannot be dictating prices.”
This attempt by the Hindutva group to exclude Muslim mango traders from the fruit trade comes after a series of developments that have targeted the minority community. First, there were a greater group of people who challenged the right of Muslim girls to wear hijabs in school, followed by calls by prominent BJP leaders to boycott halal meat.
Most recently, the Karnataka government is imposing a ban on the use of loudspeakers in mosques to call for prayer. The Sri Rama Sene’s efforts, however, were met with resistance by people involved in the mango trade.
Neelatur Chinnappa Reddy, president of the Kolar District Mango Growers’ Association told TOI that “instead of promoting such campaigns, efforts should be made to provide better sops and remunerative prices for mango growers”.
He said Muslim mango traders have been providing market facilities for farmers for many years. Byalahalli Govinda Gowda, president of the Kolar District Cooperative Central Bank, branded the campaign as an effort to “divide communities” and slammed the “vested interests” that were promoting it.
A Muslim mango traders in Srinivasapur, Anees Ahmed, said that the campaign is unlikely to succeed “as both Hindu and Muslim traders have been doing business together harmoniously for generations”.
Politicized the trading in the name of religion
Recently there were incidents which showed that Muslim mango traders were not allowed to set up their shops in the Hindu festival fair, following that, Karnataka horticulture minister K. Gopalaiah said the government has no role to play in which vendors.
Individuals choose to buy fruits from. However, he added that it is “the opinion” of some people that Muslims are monopolizing the business, according to the report.
“Farmers hand over mangoes to those who offer a good price,” Gopalaiah said. “People of all communities grow mangoes and sellers are also from all communities. Let us leave this at this stage. We have other work to do.” he said to TOI.
C.N. Ashwath Narayan, the higher education minister, also described the campaign as the work of “some fringe groups”. “There is no question of halting relationships that have been built over centuries,” Narayan said.
“If we have differences, we must talk and set it right.” He said to the media. Opposition leaders, meanwhile, accused the BJP of targeting Muslim mango traders for political gain. “This will harm farmers more than anyone else.
Even a ban on halal meat will hurt farmers,” said Karnataka Congress president D.K. Shivakumar. Siddaramaiah, a former chief minister, said the BJP is “manipulating society with communal issues for political gain” ahead of elections next year.
JDS leader and former Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said it is “anti-national” for groups to ask people not to buy mangoes from Muslim mango traders. “For hundreds of years, we have all eaten fruits and other food Muslims sold.
Published By – Damandeep Singh
Edited By-Kritika Kashyap
