Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and MLC AH Vishwanath hit out at Sri Ram Sene leader Pramod Muthalik saying that the Karnataka state government does not belong to either the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Blaming Muthalik for raking up communal issues at every instance, Vishwanath who was speaking at a press conference in Mysuru on Monday said, “Who is Muthalik to dictate terms to the government and issue communally sensitive statements? It is a tragedy that the state government is not able to take action against such people. The government does not belong to the RSS or the VHP.”
Vishwanath criticised the right-winged organisation for calling for a ban on Muslim traders in various temple festivals.
Terming the move as undemocratic he said, “This is all madness. No God or religion preaches these kinds of things. Religions are inclusive and not exclusive. The state government must intervene. I don’t know why the government is mum over this issue.”
He said that Muslims chose to stay in India during the partition and they should be identified as Indians and not as foreigners. “How many Indians are working in Muslim countries? If these countries decide to act against us, where will all this end,” he said.
Vishwanath was a former Congress minister and ex-state president of Janata Dal(Secular) before joining the BJP. The veteran OBC leader switched to the BJP in 2019.
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