TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Insisting that they have all the rights and determined to come to Goa, Sri Ram Sene’s Karnataka organizing secretary Gangadhar Kulkarni nonchalantly asserted, he doesn’t find anything wrong in his chief Pramod Muthalik’s direction to Hindus to keep a sword in every Hindu house, saying it was for safety and not to kill anyone.
He also argued that he can’t understand why people have a problem with SRS coming to Goa, suggesting that this fear has been sown by those engaged in illegalities such as prostitution, sex rackets and who are in sync with local politicians and some high profile people and hence they are creating fear about SRS.
“Why people here are making an issue? We have not come in and neither have we created any problem. Pramod Muthalik is a person who for past 40 years, has been working for the nation and Hindu religion. He has never been called a terrorist by anyone. So why is SRS been targeted?” Kulkarni asked.
“We worship weapons, especially during Dussera festival. He (Muthalik) was referring to that contest. It is for our own safety not to kill someone, as was projected,” Kulkarni clarified while participating in a television discussion hosted by HCN.
“We are not against tiatr. We too are against terrorism but it hurt us when Muthalik’s name figured in it (the tiatr). Our organization itself is working against terrorism,” he claimed.
Former Chief Election Commissioner and legal expert Prabhakar Timble, said that SRS did not represent Hindus and does not imply that those against SRS are against Hindus. When it was pointed to Kulkarni that there has been no religious conflict in the State and now people are living in the fear of religious conflict, he insisted, “We have not said anywhere that we will come and control everything. We are committed to protect and create awareness about Indian culture.”
Timble said, “I feel we need not glorify Muthalik too much. We should not be apart of that concept where we are trying to create ‘Hindu versus rest’ principle. Since tiatr belongs to Catholics, the atmosphere in society should not be ‘Hindu versus Catholic’. SRS may be doing social work but the modus operandi is too arrogant, oppressive and violent, he said.
Francis Fernandes (Francis de Tuem) of the tiatr fraternity said one cannot judge a tiatr based on a poster. “One has watch it before judging it. Without watching one cannot say that someone’s image has been defamed,” he said. If there are any objectionable parts, they could be deleted, he said.
