Kumaraswamy denies saying Madrasas could shelter terrorists

Bangalore, Sep 19: Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today denied having ever said terrorists could take shelter in Madrasas in the State.

addressing to a large gathering of Muslim religious heads at the Shabrul Irshad Arabic college on the teeming Tannery Road here, he said he had never taken the name of Madrasas during the Chief Ministers' meeting on internal security, convened by the Prime Minister in Delhi recently.

Media reports said Mr Kumaraswamy had said intelligence sources had indicated that LeT terrorists were likely to infilter into Kolar district from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and were likely to take shelter in Madrasas. They had hatched plans to target major IT firms in Bangalore, temples and other vulnerable places.

Admitting that such a paragraph had indeed been included in the speech copy prepared by the Home department and circulated to the Press, Mr Kumaraswamy, however, said he did not refer to the copy as he delivered an extempore speech.

Interestingly, the paragraph was found only in English and Kannada speech copies, but not in Urdu.

''I did not read the speech copy before hand. It was my mistake.

Had I done that, I would have ordered its withdrawal forthwith. The controversial paragraph would not have creeped in had the Principal Secretary of the Home Department, who was on leave, or a couple of other key officials of the department been present. I know that such reports have brought pain to your hearts. I will never say something that pains my Muslim brethren. If I ever had to do it, I will not stay in the Chief Minister's 'Gaddi' even for a minute,'' he said.

Mr Kumaraswamy said he had referred to two specific points on security. ''I had only touched upon the need to bring in changes to the Forest Act to lessen the problems it caused to the people living in the fringes of forests, which is being misused by the naxalites. The other point I raised was seeking funds to bring up two battalions of special police. Except this, I did not say anything in this matter, let alone say that Madrasas sheltered terrorists.'' The Chief Minister said he had personally requested college principal and noted scholar Mufti Ashraf Ali to convene this meet.

''I have been facing untrue criticism all along since I became the Chief Minister. I don't get bothered by such things. But this controversy really disturbed me. Hence, I called this meeting to put an end to this controversy,'' he added.

Stating that he always stood for the welfare of weaker sections, Mr Kumaraswamy said he put an end to communal tension in the sensitive coastal town of Bhatkal town recently with an iron hand.

His father Mr Deve Gowda was the only person to oppose the Central Government's move to take a tough stand against SIMI on the floor of Parliament. He was also helping scores of Muslim students in his constituency Ramanagaram, he pointed out.

''Though the BJP is our alliance partner, the Government is ready to extend all help to Madrasas, including mid-day meal scheme,'' he added.

UNI