Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)

Mangaluru, Nov 24: District Youth Congress president Mithun Rai on Tuesday November 24 condemned the murder of Harish Poojary near BC Road and questioned why the Sangh Parivar was silent about his death instead of protesting as in the case of Prashant Poojary who was murdered last month in Moodbidri.

Addresing a press meet at the district Congress here, Mithun Rai said, "The murder of Harish Poojary by communal elements at Manihalla near BC Road on November 12 is a painful incident. District Youth Congress condemns this brutal act and condoles his death.

"This murder was done with a communal motive and aimed at inciting tension in the district ahead of the ZP and taluk panchayat polls so as to gain political mileage," he alleged.

"Congress condemns communal forces in any form, be it from minority or majority community," he added.

Drawing comparisons between the murders of Prashant Poojary, a flower vendor and Bajrang Dal activist in October and Harish Poojary, Mithun said, "When Prashant was murdered, leaders of Sangha Parivar, BJP and the MP (Nalin Kumar Kateel) hadd demanded the arrest of the accused within 24 hours and threatened to hold a bandh and protest, but in the case of Harish Poojary they were silent, with not even a protest. Was Harish Poojary not a Hindu?"

He further alleged that even before the funeral rites of Harish, a leader of Sangha Parivar whose name was not disclosed had announced Rs 10 lac as compensation to Harish's family, while in the case of Prashant Poojary, the compensation to the family from Sangh Parivar was delayed.

"The family members of Prashant Poojary gave Rs 1 lac to the family of Harish Poojary, despite the fact that they are not financially stable and had demanded compensation from the government. There are some communal forces at work here and they need to be exposed," he said.

"The Cobrapost sting operation exposed how Sangh Parivar leaders create communal tension. The murder of Harish Poojary was the second episode aimed at stirring communal tension. Both the accused, Achyuta Poojary and Bhuvith Shetty, are activists of Bajrang Dal," he added.

"The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lac to Harish's family and the Youth Congress has also announced a compensation of Rs 50,000. The district in-charge minister (Ramanath Rai) has assured the family of providing employment to Harish's sister," he informed.

He also added that the Congress condemns all those who make provocative speeches, irrespective of which political party they belong to.

Corporators Praveen Chandra Alva, A C Vinayraj, Nazeer Bajal and others were present.