Karnataka: BJP MP Pratap Simha Threatens to Raze Bus Shelters Shaped Like Mosques

Karnataka MP Pratap Simha from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has threatened to bulldoze public bus shelters on the Mysuru-Ooty Road that architecturally appear like mosques. His grouse is that the domes resemble the ones on mosques.

According to reports, it was after some of the pictures of the bus shelters went viral that Simha, who was speaking at an event, said, “I have seen it on social media. The bus stand has two domes, a big one in the middle and a small one beside it. That’s a masjid only.” 

The BJP legislator said he has briefed the engineers responsible for the construction of the mosques to demolish the structure in three-four days. He said that the engineers themselves should do it and if they fail to do so, Simha would himself bring a bulldozer and demolish them. “I told KR IDL engineers. I have given time for three or four days. If they don’t, I will take a JCB and demolish it,” he adds.

Simha said that the engineers responsible for building these structures should remove them. Details on whether the dome structures atop the bus shelters were approved design or if the builders decided to take it on their own are not clear.

Meanwhile, Congress has slammed Simha for his analogy. Karnataka Congress chief Salim Ahmed said, “This is a foolish statement by the Mysuru MP. Will he demolish government offices that have gumbazs’ too?”

Simha added that if any symbolism is to be installed in the structures in the city, it should be on the lines of the ones resembling the Wadiyars—the former glorious rulers in the region or on Goddess Chamundeshwari and having these sorts of domes were a symbolic representation of a mosque and said that it would not be allowed, as per reports.

There has been no reaction from the municipal body or the group that constructed the bus shelters in question.