Hyderabad: In a rather surprising move, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister (CM) Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Monday, July 20, met controversial Hindutva seer Dhrirendra Krishna Shastri aka Bageshwar Baba, who is known for his anti-Muslim remarks. The Dy CM welcomed Shastri into his home at a time when Hyderabad and Telangana have been witnessing back to back communal incidents which have left many citizens about the message the meeting sends out.
According to videos from social media, Bhatti Vikramarka can be seen grandly welcoming the anti-Muslim seer in his home, with an Aarti ritual being performed as well as a mark of respect. Majlis Bachao Tehreek leader and ex-corporator Amjadullah Khan questioned the Congress party’s “secular” credentials over the incident.
“It is deeply disturbing that a Deputy Chief Minister belonging to the Congress Party, which repeatedly claims to be a secular political party, chose to officially honour a person who has publicly advocated for transforming India into a ‘Hindu Rashtra.,” said the MBT leader.
While this is the first time that Bhatti has waded into anything like this, the Congress in Telangana has been questioned over its ability to stop communal incidents from exploding. Since 2024, Hyderabad and parts of the state have witnessed minor and major incidents, with some even leading to violence. In fact, both in Hyderabad and the districts, communal incidents have been visibly on the rise, with even minor altercations turning into Hindu-Muslim fights.
Bageshwar Baba on his part claims to have powers and the ability to ‘see all’. In the past, he can be seen claiming to find out about peoples’ problems before they approach him. However, when challenged by a rationalist organisation to do the same for people at random at an event in Nagpur, Shastri backed out of the challenge, according to an Alt News report.
Latest incident in Telangana
Less than a week before this, social media from Telangana had exploded with vidoes pushing anti-Muslim slogans and messages over an incident involving an auto driver. The entire episode pertains to the driver, C Bharat Kumar, writing the following on the back of his vehicle: ‘Anyone born on this earth is a Hindu, Jai Shri Ram! Changing your religion is like changing your father’.
This prompted a local passerby to question Kumar, and the matter eventually reached the Attapur Police on July 14. Moreover, a purported conversation between the auto driver and a sub-inspector compounded the matter further, as the cop questioned Kumar over the message.
That however galvanised the right-wing in Telangana online, which, over the last week has ied its hateful messages. BJP leaders like Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay also compounded the issue but further running campaigns over it, by getting more and more auto drivers to print the same lines on the back of their vehicles.
The Congress has so far maintained silence on most matters like this.
