The BJP Karnataka X handle shared a celebratory post featuring an AI-generated image showing the country’s Home Minister, Amit Shah, standing beside a cauliflower placed in front of a gravestone inscribed with “Naxalism, Rest in Peace.” The post was made in response to Operation Kagar, which led to the killing of at least 27 Maoists this week. The use of the cauliflower symbol in the image implicitly evokes the memory of the 1989 Bhagalpur Massacre — a dark chapter in India’s history when 116 Muslims were massacred, and their body parts were buried deep in cauliflower and cabbage fields to conceal the evidence.
In the violence that erupted in Bhagalpur, instigated by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, at least a thousand lives were lost, and around 50,000 people were displaced across 195 villages.
The image shows a jovial leader, allegedly glorifying the killings and the Bhagalpur riots and Massacre. This sparked outrage on social media, harshly censuring the BJP Karnataka for its “attempt to celebrate the massacres and killings against the marginalised minorities in the country.”
“Indian BJP-led Government is beyond evil with cauliflower being the reference to the muslim massacre by Hindus in Bhagalpur, 1989,” a social media user said in a post
“BJP openly approves Muslim killings, in fact it’s a dog whistle for more M blood,” another one recounted.
Professor Natasha Kaul, a political scientist and professor at the University of Westminster, wrote, “Today, #cauliflower hate symbolism is openly shared by #BJP #Karnataka”
The forest lands in Chhattisgarh and Telangana, both governed by the BJP, have been witnessing a surge in the deployment of armed forces, carrying out massive search operations that have resulted in the killing of at least 200 Maoists this year alone.
