Karnataka BJP general secretary N Ravikumar, who is also a member of the state’s legislative council (or Upper House), hit out at ‘Tablighis and Ajmeris’ for spreading coronavirus in the state by entering like “thieves”.
Criticising what he called as the “mentality” of those who infect and kill themselves apart from others in the society – “if it is not a conspiracy, what is it then?”
Ravikumar made these remarks while addressing the media. He said that the nearly 1,900 Tablighis and 500 people who had attended the Urs at a dargah in Rajasthan’s Ajmer were behind the second wave of the virus as they had entered the cities “like thieves”.
Questioning why so-called intellectuals and community leaders were not chiding the actions of Tablighis and Ajmeris, Ravikumar said that those assaulting ASHA workers and other Covid-19 warriors should be given the strictest punishment.
Responding to a question on both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s statements that the spread of virus should not be identified with any particular community, the BJP MLC responded saying that the stand of the party and government need not be the same.
Fourteen new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Karnataka on Monday, even as data revealed that 76 per cent of the total 862 Covid-19 infections in the state are asymptomatic.
“As of 5:00 PM on May 11, cumulatively 862 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, it includes 31 deaths and 426 discharges,” the health department said in its bulletin.
It said, out of 404 active cases, 395 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while nine are in ICU.
