Pics: Jeevan D'Costa

Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (TP)

Udupi, Sep 18: Congress leader Uday Kumar Muniyal has called for the ostracism of Karkala MLA Sunil Kumar, accusing him of misusing religion in the ongoing Parashurama statue controversy. “The whole society should ostracize those who do politics in the name of religion; they should not be allowed to any religious centre,” said Muniyal during a press conference on Wednesday, September 18.

Criticising the MLA, Muniyal stated, “The MLA and those who supported him did not leave a word of work to change the direction of the court's decision. The court judge has proved that the statue is not made of bronze; after this, they are stating that it is made of brass. But they are not accepting that it is made of fiber. Unless the complete truth comes out, I will not stop my fight.”

Muniyal accused Sunil Kumar and others involved of spreading false information on social media to divert attention from their alleged corruption. “The court judge himself said to remove the statue before it falls on a tourist's head. Their treasure is overflowing due to corruption, and to hide this, they are bringing forward religion,” he claimed.

He further stated, “Once they say the axe in the statue has to change, another time the angle of the statue. Again handing over the statue's reestablishment work to them—how long will it last? Therefore, the Rs 1.25 crore given to them should be taken back and handed over to an expert. The statue is sculpted on stone and is open to tourism. Our only aim is to have a Parashurama theme park with a real statue. The project should be handed over to another new agent.”

Highlighting concerns about the statue's safety, he noted, “The achievement of Sunil Kumar MLA is that the upper part of the Parashurama statue, which is completely made of fiber, has not been handed over to Krishna Nayak's custody. It should be brought before the people. If the entire state was religiously cheated, it was none other than Sunil Kumar. Even today, I will say that the statue is made of fiber. After the NITK report, they accepted that the statue is made of brass. The upper portion of the statue has disappeared.”

Muniyal challenged the credibility of local MLAs, stating, “To inquire about the seized parts of the statue, they have brought a stay. If they are that confident, let them remove the stay and allow for the investigation; then the truth will come out immediately. The five MLAs of the coastal region said no funds have been released for development. If they engage in such fraudulent works, how can the government trust them to sanction funds?”

Addressing the Kasturi Rangan report, Muniyal remarked, “The expert committee has been formed without any local authorities. If the Kasturi Rangan and Huli projects are implemented in Karkala, it will affect the local residents. We will not allow the implementation of the Kasturi Rangan Yojana. We have planned to hold a protest from the Karkala border to Someshwara. Kota Shrinivas, MP, should not allow the implementation of this project. We request the formation of a committee with local authorities to evaluate what is best for the area before implementing any project.”

Present at the press meet were Udupi Block Congress president Ramesh Kanchan, Congress leader Krishnamoorthi Acharya, Karkala Youth Congress president Yogish Enna, and Congress leader Vinay Kumar Kabiyadi.