A section of Muslims under the banner of “Belgaum Muslims”, on Tuesday, demanded that the State government ban Hindutva organisations — the Vishwa Hindu Parishat, the Bajrang Dal, the Sri Ram Sene, the RSS, the Sanathan Sanstha, the Hindu Mahasabha and the Maharana Pratap Brigade, considering their alleged terror activities.
Staging a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office here, they said that all these organisations, of late, had been repeatedly indulging in violence leading to communal tension that harmed harmony and peace in society. They said that these Hindutava organisations were deliberately misleading the common man by describing Tipu Sultan anti-Hindu and anti-national, though the latter had fought foreign rule and worked for the development and progress of all sections of people during his rule.
They alleged that these organisations were projecting Nathuram Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, as a patriot.
Recently, a Muslim was killed during Tipu Sultan Jayanti celebrations in Madikeri after a VHP activist Kuttappa led a protest to oppose the celebrations.
Though Kuttappa died due to a fall from a wall during the disturbances as had been stated by the police authorities, some of the Hindutva organisations were likening it to a murder, they said.
The situation in Belagavi was also deteriorating due to certain incidents witnessed recently. Taking serious note of the alleged involvement of these organisations in such incidents and also the statements issued by leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party via media, they said that the government should immediately impose a ban on them and take steps to strengthen communal harmony and peace.
Later, they submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner.
