Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, May 19: In his first public appearance in Goa in over ten years, Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik expressed gratitude to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for lifting the long-standing ban on his entry into the state. Speaking at the ‘Sanatan Rashtra Shankhnad Mahotsav’ organised by Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha, Muthalik said, “For the last 10 years, there was a ban on me entering Goa. Now, I am free because of the graciousness of the Chief Minister. I met him yesterday and thanked him for this opportunity.”

The ban was initially imposed in 2009 under the Congress government following Muthalik’s controversial “moral policing” incident in Mangaluru, where he led attacks on pub-goers claiming they violated traditional Indian values. Goa authorities had then prohibited him and his associates from entering the state, a restriction later renewed in 2014 during BJP’s Manohar Parrikar tenure, citing police warnings of potential law-and-order problems and public unrest linked to Muthalik’s activities.

Muthalik acknowledged the ban was imposed by the same government and admitted it was based on “wrong opinions” about him. For over a decade, the ban was periodically extended by district magistrates but this year it lapsed and was not renewed. In March, Muthalik entered Goa and met former Goa RSS leader Subhash Velingkar in Panaji.

The ‘Sanatan Rashtra Shankhnad Mahotsav’ marked the 83rd birthday of Sanatan Sanstha founder Jayant Athavale and the group’s silver jubilee, with CM Sawant attending the event’s inaugural ceremony on Saturday.