Pic: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (AR)
Udupi, Oct 15: VHP secretary Gopalji on Sunday October 15 stirred a controversy by claiming that the state Congress government had played dirty politics by showing one of the suspects in Gauri Lankesh murder case as belonging to Hindu outfit by way of sketching his portrait with a 'nama'. He was referring to the sketches of the three suspects released by the police in Bengaluru on Saturday October 14.
Speaking to reporters here, Gopalji said, "We too are saddened by Gauri Lankesh's murder. We do not believe in murder and violence. We too want a thorough investigation into Gauri's murder and demand that the culprits be stringently punished.
"But whenever a murder is committed in Karnataka, the blame is put on Hindu organizations. Even when Prof Kalburagi was murdered, Hindu outfits were blamed, but it has been proved that the allegation was false. The state government tried hard to prove that Kuttappa's death during Tipu Jayanti celebration was due to natural causes, but it failed to do so," he said.
"So this fresh allegation is nothing new. Truth will ultimately prevail. Like the sun, even truth cannot be covered for long. But investigation should progress in the right manner," he added.
"In the past, the country has seen attempts to ban Bajrang Dal and VHP. But people have faith in these organizations, that is why it has not been possible to ban them. Now again political attempts are being made to this end, but these also will fail.
Criticising the state government's anti-superstition bill, Gopalji said, "This government is out to destroy the belief system of the Hindus in the name of curbing superstitions. It is just not right. Hindus do not believe in superstitions, but we have our beliefs. The Bible says the world is flat and missionaries to this day espouse the same. The superstition about number 13 has orginated from England. All these are superstitions, and science itself has said so. Let the government drive away these kinds of superstitions, and not Hindu practices and beliefs. The government should not play with religious beliefs and should drop the idea of having such a bill."