Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)
Mangaluru, Jan 19: The 'Virat Hindu Hrudaya Sangama' programme organized at Puttur as part of the golden jubilee of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) appears to be a strategy to trigger communal violence in the district. Hence the police department should conduct a thorough probe into this," said A M Athavulla, district president of Popular Front of India (PFI).
He was addressing the press meet in the city here on Monday January 19.
"The provocative speech of Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat and Praveen Togadia resulted in the communal tensions in many places. Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat who presided over the Hindu Sangama programme insulted the Muslim community and religious practices of the community. In his speech he also asked Hindu youths to carry knives with them. His provocative speech against love Jihad, land Jihad, conversion and cow slaughter provoked the youths to attack the minority," he said.
"While returning from the convention the Sangh Parivar activists shouted provocative slogans. Twenty-five activists namely Babu Gowda, Mahesh Punja, Jagadish Shetty, Gowrish Pai and others came in a pickup van with registration number KA 21 B-549, and nearly 200 more miscreants barged into Karaya Masjid and vandalized the furniture, religious scripts and attacked religious leader Ashraf Bakaavi and 6 students with lethal weapons and stole money and mobile phones. They also pelted stones on nearby houses and burnt a shop, auto rikshaw and a bike. Stones were pelted on Masjid from the road," Athavulla said.
"Moreover, stones were found in the pickup van, which clearly shows that the attack was planned. Several incidents of shops being torched were reported in places like Beltangady and Uppinangady," he added.
"This clearly shows that this was an attempt at sparking communal violence. Hence the police department and the district administration should file cases against the organisers of the programme and also expose the strategy of the Sangh Parivar. The police should arrest the accused at the earliest and send them to jail. Also, compensation should be provided to the victims of the violence," he urged.
Regarding the banner of Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in Puttur, Athavulla alleged that Arun Kumar Puthila, one of the organizers of the Hindu Sangama programme, not only defended the banner but also indirectly challenged the law. "Arun Kumar Puthila also gave provocative speeches during the campaign for the Hindu Hrudaya Sangama and took part in a rally shouting slogans against Muslims. This was an attempt to disrupt the harmony of the society," he alleged.
Shafi Bellare, president of PFI Puttur and others were present.