Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Feb 25: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, whose visit to the city to participate in the communal harmony programme organized by the CPI(M) resulted in a bandh called by the Sangh Parivar, on Saturday February 25 attacked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and said that the RSS does not believe in the principles of securalism and has 'never wanted India to be united'.
Using the platform of the communal harmony programme at Nehru Maidan here to launch a barrage against the RSS and the Sangh Parivar, the Kerala CM said, "I am happy to take part in the communal harmony programme in Mangaluru. RSS has never wanted India to be united and has always tried to create friction between the people of the country, starting from Gandhiji's assasination.
"RSS hatched a conspiracy and was directly involved in the murder of Gandhiji. RSS used Godse as a weapon to elminate Gandhiji. We all know that RSS celebrated the death of Mahatma Gandhi.
"RSS never fought for Indian Independence. It never adjusted itself to the multi-cultural dimensions of the country. It never raised a voice for Indian Independence and never wanted the British to go back. Instead, the RSS joined hands with the British viceroy saying that their ideologies matched," he said.
"RSS opted to practice Hitler's policy and his ideologies of fascism, and has used that frequently to harass the Dalits. RSS creates discrimination among people of different religions as it follows Hitler's principles.
"The communal violence meted out by the RSS is infinite. They are known to provoke communal disturbances. They conspire in their minds and execute their plans accordingly," Vijayan alleged.
"RSS did not believe in secularism and is against it. On July 17, 1947, 'Organiser' newspaper carried an article on their agenda as they also opposed the country's name as 'India'. They wanted it to be 'Hindustan'. They had said securalism was a threat to the country," he added.
Giving the examples of murders of rationalists and of the Dadri incident to term RSS as intolerant, Vijayan said, "RSS has never considered the opinions of others, and those who go against their ideologies are eliminate by them. For example, Prof Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare were brutally murdered. RSS wants to decide what an individual should eat. And if the individual refuses, they will hack him to death. In the Dadri incident in UP, a man was hacked to death on allegations that he had consumed beef, but later it was proved that it was mutton. In Gujurat, four dalits were stripped and beaten. There were rapes in Haryana and Delhi.
"The Sangh Parivar has bludgeoned all over the coastal region, be it Pratap Poojary murder, killing of Praveen Poojary by cow vigilantes, or murder of RTI activist Vinayak Baliga by NaMo Brigade founder Naresh Shenoy. VHP and Sangh Parivar are killing each other frequently," he said.
"Four months ago, CPI(M) Karnataka state secretary Sriram Reddy had invited me to this programme. But the Sangh Parivar threatened to interrupt the programme. Still, we took it up as a challenge and a large number of people have gathered here, which is appreciable. Today when I arrived, tight security was given by the Karnataka police to which I am grateful. I have grown up seeing these RSS and Sangh Parivar activists carrying lethal weapons and indulging in wrongdoings, and faced all types of challenges that came my way. Even today I am not afraid of any threat posed by the RSS and the Sangh Parivar.
"When U R Ananthmurthy was in his deathbed, they (right-wing outfits) even told him to go to Pakistan. Sangh Parivar also demanded actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan to go to Pakistan. They have no right to tell the citizens of this country to go to Pakistan. Every individual has the right to stay in the country. India is not for RSS or Sangh Parivar alone. Every citizen deserves to live in this country," the CM said.
State CPI(M) secretary Sriram Reddy said, "When Pinarayi Vijayan decided to visit Mangaluru there were lots of threats posed by the Sangh Parivar and the BJP to interrupt the programme and stop Vijayan from delivering his speech. Yesterday (February 24), they held a protest where over 5,000 people gathered demanding Vijayan to cancel his visit. But today, despite all the challenges, a large number of people have stood up to them and gathered here in making this communal harmony rally a successful one. This shows the unity among the people of the district against Sangha Parivar and the RSS.
"Pro-Hindu organisations called Pinarayi Vijayan a 'merchant of death', but they have forgotten the past where they created bloodshed during the partition of India and Pakistan. They were also directly involved in Gandhiji's assasination and Gujarat riots. We need to be strong against those who disturb peace and harmony in society," he said.
Prior to the programme, a rally was held from Dr Ambedkar circle to Nehru Maidan under tight security. Around 4,000 to 5,000 people were present. However, the Kerala CM did not participate in the march.
Kasargod MP Karunakaran, CPI(M) member Vasanth Acharya, Sathishchandra, Balakrishna Shetty, DYFI president Muneer Katipalla and others were present.