BJP Accuses Karnataka Government of Turning Bengaluru Jail Into ‘Terrorist Recreation Club’
Congress accused of turning jails into VVIP clubs for ISIS operatives.
The Bharatiya Janata Party unleashed a fierce offensive against the Congress-led Karnataka government on Monday, branding state prisons as "recreation clubs for terrorists" after viral videos exposed shocking lapses at Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara Central Jail. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, addressing a press conference in New Delhi, displayed footage of alleged ISIS recruiter Junaid Hameed Shakeel Manna casually using a mobile phone inside his cell, accusing the Siddaramaiah administration of endangering national security by providing banned luxuries like smartphones, televisions, and even party setups to high-risk inmates. This "VVIP treatment," Poonawalla charged, allows radicals to maintain external networks and plot further radicalization, starkly contrasting the NDA's zero-tolerance approach to terror.
Escalating the attack, Poonawalla lambasted the Congress for its historical "soft-on-terror" stance, alleging that while security agencies toil to dismantle terror modules, Karnataka's jails under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home Minister G Parameshwara have morphed into safe havens complete with ganja, liquor, and unchecked communications—potentially linking to handlers in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He highlighted the irony: "We nab terrorists, and Congress rolls out the biriyani and Wi-Fi," demanding immediate resignations to pave the way for an impartial probe free from alleged political collusion. BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra amplified the outrage on social media, directly implicating Rahul Gandhi in enabling such chaos to destabilize the nation through foreign-backed unrest.
Karnataka BJP leaders took the fight to the streets, staging a defiant protest march to Siddaramaiah's residence in Bengaluru, where they were briefly detained amid heightened security. Figures like R. Ashoka and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy decried the prisons as "nightclubs for extremists," pointing to inmates like Umesh Reddy and Tarun Raju flaunting privileges that violate every protocol. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi echoed the call, labeling the facility a "sleeper cell" hub, while IT cell chief Amit Malviya's viral post warned of a "total administrative collapse" turning jails into criminal comfort zones. The BJP framed this as systemic failure, urging Gandhi to demand accountability from his own party's leaders rather than eyeing "jungle raj" expansions elsewhere.
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In response, Home Minister Parameshwara convened an emergency review meeting, vowing zero tolerance for the exposed irregularities and holding prison heads directly accountable for the breaches. "We've suspended officers, filed FIRs, and will not spare anyone—the Bengaluru Central Prison is our flagship facility, and such violations are unacceptable," he asserted to reporters, acknowledging media reports on the contraband influx. Yet Poonawalla dismissed these as "empty rhetoric," insisting that without the CM and Home Minister stepping down, any investigation would be tainted by the very nexus enabling terrorists, rapists, and criminals to thrive behind bars.
As the controversy snowballs into a national security flashpoint, the BJP's relentless push threatens to overshadow Karnataka's governance narrative, with calls for a high-level central inquiry gaining traction. With videos continuing to circulate widely, the episode underscores deepening rifts over law enforcement, forcing Congress to defend its turf amid accusations of prioritizing politics over public safety in a state already grappling with rising crime concerns.
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