BJP’s dangerous games in Dharmasthala — when complicity masquerades as concern

In a shocking and morally indefensible political move, Karnataka’s BJP leaders — led by R Ashok, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly — have chosen to communalise and discredit the investigation into one of the most grotesque criminal sagas in the state’s recent history: the alleged rape, murder, and mass cover-up in what the public now increasingly refers to as the “Republic of Dharmasthala.”

R Ashok, who was the Home Minister during the time of Soujanya’s rape and murder, has now crossed all limits of political decency by suggesting that a Muslim is behind the recent revelations around the mass crimes in Dharmasthala. It is a desperate and cynical attempt to change the narrative — away from caste, class, and institutional complicity — and into the communal theatre where the BJP seems most at home.

What is most galling is that Ashok and his fellow leaders — B S Yediyurappa, C T Ravi, Ashwath Narayan, and BJP state president B Y Vijayendra — are fully aware of the facts. They know that almost every documented victim of rape and murder in the Dharmasthala region has been a Hindu girl or woman. They also know that the institution in question enjoys enormous land, money, and political power, and has historically functioned as a law unto itself. Yet, instead of backing the investigation, they are obstructing it — because the accused are their patrons, not their enemies.

By communalising the issue and maligning the SIT investigation, these leaders are not only shielding suspected criminals but also insulting the intelligence and morality of the people of Karnataka. They assume the public will forget who was in power when these crimes occurred. They forget that R Ashok himself oversaw the very police system that refused to register complaints, silenced whistleblowers, and destroyed evidence for years.

Their opposition to the state government’s present efforts to finally dig out the truth is effectively a confession. They are signalling — knowingly or otherwise — that the BJP, including its central leadership, has no real interest in punishing the powerful. Rather, the BJP seems more worried that the SIT might expose men and institutions whose influence stretches all the way to Delhi.

The party must realise it is playing with fire. What is unfolding in Dharmasthala is no ordinary scandal. It is the slow and painful reckoning of decades of impunity, silence, and coercion. By standing with the oppressors instead of the victims, the BJP is writing its own political obituary in the court of public opinion.

Justice in Dharmasthala is no longer merely a legal question — it is a test of Karnataka’s conscience. And by choosing evasion, deceit, and communal venom over truth, the BJP has already failed that test.