Janata Dal leader HD Kumaraswamy and Congress leader DK Shivakumar both threatened to launch stirs across Karnataka if the reigning government implements the Citizenship Amendment Act. Karnataka is currently a BJP government, led by Chief Minister Yeddyurappa. Early on Wednesday, the Chief Minister had said that the government would implement the CAA in the state, no matter what opposition arose.
However, the JD(s) and Congress parties, in particular, joined student protesters and activist activists in decrying the Act as being unconstitutional. Both Kumaraswamy and Shivkumar added that the Act was incompatible with the spirit in which Independence had achieved in 1947.
Much of Southern Karnataka- including Kumaraswamy's Mandya constituency - remained largely peaceful, with only a few protests in Bangalore and Mysore. However, North Karnataka, which hosts a large population of Yeddiyurappa's Lingayat community, expressed greater discontent. Some groups in Kalaburgi (Gulbarga) called for a Bandh on Thursday.
North Karnataka has a large population of Muslims, many of whom speak the endangered Beary language. It also has a history of communal peace and syncretism, due in large part to reformers like Shishunala Sharif and Govind Bhatta, who share a mausoleum in Gulbarga. In the given circumstances, it seems likely that dissent and discontent with the Act may emanate from there. However, greater political support may indeed result in the state, at large, experiencing larger protests and agitations.
