The BJP and Sangh parivar organisations are on warpath after the Congress in Karnataka promised to ban organisations that spread hate, and named the Bajrang Dal and the Popular Front of India (PFI) as examples.
Protests broke out in several parts of the state on Wednesday against the Congress election promise, with Bajrang Dal members burning copies of the party’s manifesto.
The Congress asked how a ban on Bajrang Dal, a Sangh outfit, had anything to do with Lord Hanuman.
“What is the connection between Bajrang Dal and Hanumantha (another name for Lord Hanuman)? Hanumantha is different from Bajrang Dal, which is an organisation,” state Congress president D.K. Shivakumar told reporters here on Wednesday.
“We are devotees of Anjaneya (yet another name for Lord Hanuman). Our idea is that peace should prevail here. Why are they worried? I am a Hindu, I am a bhakta of Rama, Anjaneya and Shiva,” he added.
The party’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge said communal polarisation was wrong. “They say anything for votes. But it’s certainly not right to communally polarise for votes.”
Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai reminded the Congress that no state government had the power to ban any organisation. “State governments have no power to ban an organisation. So the only aim is to create confusion in the society, and the people have already rejected their manifesto,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
BJP veteran B.S. Yediyurappa termed the Congress promise as “vinash kale viprit buddhi (when the time of one’s destruction comes, his mind thinks the opposite of what it should)”.
“We will not give an opportunity for them to ban Bajrang Dal,” he added.
Raghu Sakleshpura, Karnataka state coordinator of Bajrang Dal, told The Telegraph that the protests would continue. “The Congress promise is an affront to Hindus since the organisation itself was formed in 1984 in the name of the messenger of Lord Rama,” he said.
“We have already started a campaign by pasting posters outside our homes denying permission to Congress workers. This campaign will be intensified from tomorrow,” he said.
Bajrang Dal leader Sunil K.R. dared the Congress to ban his organisation. “The Congress manifesto described Bajrang Dal as an extremist organisation. Let them try banning us.”
Sree Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik objected to Bajrang Dal being equated with the PFI. “The PFI is an anti-national and terror organisation. Are you clubbing Bajrang Dal with such an anti-national organisation?”
“It is wrong to say that you will ban Bajrang Dal, which has a history of 50 years of working for the people. You go ahead and ban BajrangDal if you have the guts,” he said.
Muthalik said there was no chance of the Congress coming to power in the state and urged the party to withdraw the promise. “There is no chance of you coming to power. You are doing this only for Muslim votes. So you should withdraw your promise.”
Bajrang Dal, one of the most popular Sangh parivar outfits in the state, has been involved in activities ranging from cow vigilantism to intercepting and attacking interfaith couples in the name of “love jihad” — the alleged Muslim plot to win over Hindu girls, marry and convert or radicalise them.
Members of the outfit have also been intercepting and barging into Christian prayer halls in the name of stopping illegal religious conversions. They usually act on tip-offs from their informants who could be either their activists or just sympathisers.
