‘We Didn’t Spare Gandhi’: Karnataka Hindu Mahasabha Leader Arrested for Threatening CM Bommai

The threats came in response to the government’s demolition of a Hindu temple in the Nanjangud taluk which has become a political controversy in recent weeks.

New Delhi: Dharmendra, general secretary of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha in Karnataka, was taken into custody by Mangaluru police on Sunday after making a “death threat” to chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, NDTV reported.

The remarks came during a press conference held on Saturday by the religious outfit about the demolition of the Sri Adishakti Mahadevamma temple in the Nanjangud taluk of Mysuru on September 8.

The demolition of the temple had been ordered by the Supreme Court.

Addressing the chief minister, Dharmendra had said, “We didn’t spare Gandhiji, who are you then? If Gandhiji could be assassinated, do you think we won’t consider the same for you?”

The remarks, which were recorded and uploaded to social media, led to Dharmendra’s arrest along with two of his colleagues, Rajesh Pavitran and Prem Poolali. The three men have been charged by the Mangaluru police with IPC Sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 153 (a) (promoting enmity between different groups), 506 (criminal intimidation) among others.

The arrests were made on the basis of a complaint made by the Hindu Mahasabha state president Lohith Kumar for misusing the organisation’s name and threatening the Karnataka chief minister, reported India Today.

During the press conference, Dharmendra also took exception to the court’s orders for demolition. He said that India was a “majoritarian country divided on religious lines” and asked, rhetorically, where Hindu’s should go if things were made tough for them.

He denounced the Supreme Court order as an attempt to appease Christians and Muslims and went on to announce protests on the matter, which were to be held on Wednesday, September 22.

While speaking to NDTV, however, Dharmendra noted that the reference to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination was not meant as a threat to anyone but rather as “an expression of anger”.

The demolished temple was one of 15 in Nanjangud which had been identified as encroaching on public property. After videos of the demolition were shared on social media by BJP MP from Mysoru-Kodagu, Pratap Simha, the issue became a political firestorm.

While villagers expressed an emotional connection to the temple, they couldn’t identify when exactly it had been built. Pro-Hindu groups, however, alleged that it had stood for over a century, the New Indian Express reported.

The groups also took exception to the fact that the demolition took place early in the morning, with Simha saying, “The officials came like thieves overnight and demolished the temple.” The incident drew criticism against the Bommai-led government from several quarters.