An 18-year-old Muslim young man was assaulted by Hindutva workers for hanging out with a Hindu woman in Puttur district, Dakshina Kannada.
According to Puttur town police, Mohammad Parish, a first-year PUC student was brutally attacked by a hot iron rod by Hindutva workers after he was seen having juice with his Hindu friend.
His repeated pleas that they were just friends went unheard as the Hindutva workers began thrashing him. Parish is currently undergoing treatment. His condition is said to be stable.
The Puttur town police have identified four persons Dinesh Gowda (an autorickshaw driver), Prajwal, Nishanth Kumar, and Pradeep (students) as accused.
The previous day, the Congress party released its manifesto for the upcoming Assembly elections promising to ban the Hindutva organisation Bajrang Dal if voted to power.
It identified and compared Bajrang Dal to the same lengths as the banned Islamic organisation PFI (Popular Front of India).
It created a stir in Karnataka politics as well as outside with many leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and RSS charging that the Congress is a threat to India’s sovereignty and integrity.
“This is the last election for the Congress party. If they are defeated, they will go straight to their houses. This is a do-or-die situation for them. It is indeed a dying situation for Congress,” he slammed.
He waved the saffron shawl, raised the slogan of ‘Jai Bhajrangi’, and chanted the slogans of Bajrang Dal activists.
Several posters claiming ‘I am Bajrangi’ coming up at many places challenging the authorities to “ban and arrest” them on Wednesday
Tejasvi Surya, the BJP National Youth Wing chief and MP from the Bengaluru South seat shared a poster on his social media claiming that he is a Bajrangi. “I am a Bajrangi. I am a Kannadiga and this is the land of Hanuman. I dare the Congress to ban me!” he challenged.
Meanwhile, Congress president D K Shivakumar questioned the “connection between Bajrangbali and Bajrang Dal” while saying he is also a devotee of Lord Hanuman.
“They are panicking over our proposal to ban Bajrang Dal. There will be no changes in the manifesto. What is the connection between Bajrangbali and Bajrang Dal?” Shivakumar questioned.
“Anjaneya (Lord Hanuman) and Bajrang Dal are different. The BJP should do campaigning by taking the name of Bajrangbali. Let them tell you about what they have done to end hunger and unemployment?” Shivakumar questioned.
