The district units of Sri Rama Sene and Hindu Janajagriti Samiti will be offering prayers and singing bhajans near Clock Tower here on Sunday.
This is part of the State-wide protest called by the sene against allowing the offering of ‘namaz’ during Iftar or the ‘Souharda Koota’ organised by Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Paryaya Pejawar Mutt at Sri Krishna Mutt/Temple complex on June 24.
Addressing presspersons here on Friday, Mohan Bhat, secretary of the Mangaluru division of Sri Rama Sene, said Vishwesha Tirtha Swami was one of the leading lights of Hindu religion in the country. The sene was not against Iftar, but ‘namaz’ should not have been allowed there.
A delegation of the sene had met the seer on this issue. But the seer stuck to his stand that he had done so to promote harmony between the two communities.
Allowing people who might have slaughtered cows and consumed beef to perform ‘namaz’ at the Annabrahma dinning hall had pained the Hindu community. “To express our pain, we are holding the prayers,” he said. On the Pejawar seer’s statement that some Hindus too consumed beef, Mr. Bhat said: “We do not consider such persons as Hindus.” Vijay Kumar, convener of the samiti, said offering ‘namaz’ had defiled the Annabrahma hall. Hence, it should be purified by cleaning it with ‘gomutra’ (cow urine). “The Pejawar seer should apologise to the Hindus, failing which we will intensify our struggle through peaceful means,” he said.