Bengaluru, November 14, 2025
In a stinging rebuke to what it termed "brazen political meddling in institutional autonomy," the Karnataka High Court on Friday stayed a controversial probe into alleged "namaz offerings" at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), slamming the BJP-led state government's directive as an "overreach that erodes secular fabric and judicial oversight." The single-judge bench of Justice N.V. Anjaria, hearing a clutch of petitions from airport staff and civil rights groups, imposed an interim halt on the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed last week, pending a full hearing on December 5. The ruling ignited a political firestorm, with BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra vowing an immediate Supreme Court challenge, framing the stay as "appeasement politics run amok" in a state where Hindu-majority sentiments have long simmered over minority practices.
The saga traces to November 6, when viral videos surfaced showing a small group of airport staff—allegedly Muslim ground handlers—offering namaz in a non-designated corner of KIA's Terminal 2 during a lull in operations, prompting a deluge of BJP complaints accusing the facility of "fostering religious favoritism" on public premises. The state Home Ministry, under pressure from saffron hardliners, swiftly constituted an SIT headed by Additional DGP Alok Kumar to "investigate potential violations of the Karnataka Religious Practices Act and airport security protocols," a move critics decried as a "witch hunt" targeting minorities amid Diwali's glow. Petitions flooded the court, arguing the probe was "vitiated by bias" and infringed on Article 25's freedom of religious expression, especially since KIA's management—Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL)—had clarified the act occurred in a private break area with no disruption.
Justice Anjaria, in a 22-page order laced with constitutional barbs, didn't mince words: "Summoning state machinery to police personal prayers reeks of majoritarian overreach, transforming a molehill into a mountain of mistrust. The SIT's formation, sans prima facie evidence or neutrality, smacks of electoral posturing—unconstitutional and untenable." The court directed BIAL to submit a compliance report on prayer space guidelines by next month and barred any coercive action against the 12 named staffers, who had faced online death threats post-video leak. "This isn't about faith; it's about fear-mongering," the judge added, invoking precedents like the 2018 Sabarimala verdict to underscore judicial firewalls against "populist probes."
The verdict landed like a thunderclap in Karnataka's polarized polity. BJP's Vijayendra, addressing a frenzied presser at party HQ in Malleswaram, thundered: "The High Court has bowed to secular sophistry, but we won't let anti-Hindu bias prevail. This is Congress-DK Shivakumar's green signal to encroach on sacred spaces— we'll appeal to the Supreme Court by Monday and expose the rot." Union Minister for Civil Aviation K. Rammohan Naidu, a BJP heavyweight, echoed the vow, accusing the bench of "soft-pedaling security lapses" and demanding a CBI takeover, citing KIA's "strategic vulnerability" as India's third-busiest airport.
Congress and allies pounced with glee. Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, who helms the Home portfolio, hailed the stay as a "victory for constitutional sanity," tweeting: "Bengaluru's skies are for all faiths, not BJP's bigotry. Let prayers soar, not probes stifle." JD(S) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda, bridging the secular-saffron divide, urged "de-escalation," but his son Kumaraswamy—BJP's ally—muttered of "judicial overreach" in private. Civil society voices amplified the divide: PUCL's Bengaluru chapter called the probe "Orwellian," while RSS-affiliated Hindu Jagran Manch warned of "dharmic awakening" if "appeasement" persists.
At KIA, normalcy returned tentatively: The 12 staffers, reinstated after a week's suspension, resumed duties under enhanced CCTV, with BIAL unveiling a "multi-faith quiet zone" plan by year-end to preempt flashpoints. Passenger footfall, dipping 5% post-row, stabilized, but tourism outfits fretted over the "intolerant India" tag scaring inbound flyers.
This airport altar spat, unfolding against Karnataka's 2028 poll horizon, isn't isolated—it's an echo chamber for BJP's Hindutva playbook, tested in recent temple-mosque tussles from Mathura to Mangaluru. With the SIT idled, the Supreme Court looms as the next arena: Will it affirm secular shores or saffron summons? In Bengaluru's balmy haze, faith's fragile truce hangs by a judicial thread.
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