The members of the district unit of the Congress staged a dharna in front of the Clock Tower here on Saturday against “the lynching and death of persons in the name of cow protection.”
The protest was held in the backdrop of the assault and murder of a BJP member, Praveen Poojary, allegedly by activists of right-wing groups at Kenjur district on August 17.
Addressing the gathering here, Satish Amin Padukere, Congress leader, said that it had now become difficult to differentiate between real and fake cow protectors in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts.
The situation was such that some people belonging to some right-wing groups professed to protection of cow during the daytime, but indulged in cattle transportation during nights.
Organisations such as the BJP, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagarana Vedike were misleading and using the youth through their provocative speeches for political purposes. The government should initiate stern action and ban groups such as Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagarana Vedike. Such groups are terrorising people in the coastal region of the State, Mr. Padukere said.
B. Narasimhamurthy, general secretary of the District Congress Committee and chairman of the Udupi Urban Development Authority, said that it was essential that the law enforcement agencies take stern legal action against groups which were bullying and harassing people in the name of cow protection.
Meenakshi Bannanje, president of the Udupi City Municipal Council and other Congress leaders were present.
