Mangaluru : The district unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said that the State government’s move to withdraw cases against volunteers of Popular Front of India (PFI) and Karnataka Forum for Development (KFD) is a clear example of minority appeasement.

BJP district president K. Pratap Simha Nayak said the move further erodes the morale of the police force, which had already been dented with political interventions in illegal cattle transportation and other kinds of smuggling.

He said PFI and KFD volunteers had created ruckus in Mysuru during April and July 2009 over trivial issues. As many as 40 cases have been filed against 214 persons in these incidents, he said.

These forces also went on rampage in Hassan and Shivamogga in 2010, protesting the publication of a translated work of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin in a Kannada daily. In all, 1,400 persons were booked in both the incidents, he said.

The government was resorting to cheap publicity tactics. It had not thought about the long-term impact of the decision, Mr. Nayak said.