Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)

Mangaluru, Apr 20: Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha chief Swami Pranavananda on Monday April 20 said that his outfit will be installing the statue of Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse in Mangaluru and five other districts in the state.

Addressing a press meet here, Swami Pranavananda said, "The Hindu Mahasabha will be installing the statue of Nathuram Godse in Mangaluru. Nathuram Godse was a Hindu patriot and he had taken 'deeksha' from Veer Savarkar. Godse was a patriot and no matter what anyone says, we will install his statue."

He said he has already submitted memorandum to the deputy commissioner asking for space to install the statue, but is yet to get a reply. "Nathuram Godse's statues will also be installed Ballari, Chitradurga, Bengaluru, Mysuru and Vijaypura. We have submitted appeals to the DCs of all these districts, but there has been no reply yet."

He informed that the statue in Mangaluru will be five feet tall, and when asked when it would be installed, he said, "We have not decided on the exact date, but we will do it immediately after the BBMP elections in Bengaluru."

When asked why his outfit decided to build only Godse's statue and not of any other leader like Veer Savarkar, he replied, "When there can be statues of and roads named after Tipu Sultan and Aurangazeb who destroyed our temples, what is wrong in having Godse statue?"

He also said that Hindu Mahasabha will be contesting elections in future. "In view of building a Hindu Rashtra, the Hindu Mahasabha is planning to contest in all the elections in the future, starting with the BBMP elections. We do not need the votes of Muslims and Christians, we can contest only on the strength of Hindu votes," he said.

He also demanded that the deaths of Lal Bahadur Shastri and Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee should be probed. "There is suspicion that Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress were involved in their deaths, hence the matter should be probed."

Demanding the release of Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur from jail, he said, "The BJP joining hands with PDP has released separatist leader and Pakistan terrorist Masarat Alam. But Sadhvi Pragya Thakur who is suffering from cancer is still in jail. She should be released on bail."

Terming the social and educational survey (census) undertaken by the state government as an attempt to 'divide the society', he said, "All Hindus must mention their caste as 'Hindu' only. Naming religion and caste in survey is an attempt to break the society like the British had done."

Referring to Basava Dharma Peetha chief Mata Mahadevi's remark that Lingayats are not Hindus and should be considered independently as 'Veerashaiva Lingayats', he said, "During former CM B S Yeddyurappa's regime, Mata Mahadevi's Math had been given a grant of Rs 10 crore. Let her first give that money back and remove her saffron robes, then she can tell she is not a Hindu. All are Hindus, including Lingayats."

Lashing out at Girish Karnad who had taken part in a recent protest against beef ban and Prof K S Bhagawan who had made controversial remarks on Hinduism, Swami Pranavananda said, "They are literary terrorists. When there were protests over Mekedatu issue, they did not join. Karnad is a Muslim terrorist agent. People should boycott them. Instead of giving Jnanapith award, Karnad should have been given 'Ajnanapith' award. Prof Bhagawan comments on Hindus but he has no guts to comment on minorities.

"Dr Ambedkar who followed Buddhism was against animal sacrifice, but during his birthday celebration, they consumed beef. Hence such Dalits and Ambedkar followers should be given a 'chappali seve'," he added.

He also spoke on 'land Jihad' and said, "Hindus should sell their lands only to Hindus and not to Muslims and Christians. While selling land, they should consult Maths or Hindu leaders for opinion."

Slamming the union government, he said, "The union government is following anti-Hindu politices by forming coalitian government in Kashmir with Mufti. The BJP should break the alliance with that party (PDP) as they are not alllowing Kashmiri pandits to live in Kashmir."

Dharmendra and others were present.