Intro: “It is the most autocratic, obnoxious, dictatorial and paranoid action obviously taken at the instance of the Police Commissioner’s political masters.” —Dr Pravin Togadia
VHP president Dr Pravin Togadia termed the ban on his entry in Bengaluru from February 5 to 12 as “violation” of his “Fundamental Rights”. Dr Togadia was to address a mega Hindu Samajotsav organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on February 8 at the National High School Grounds of Bsavanagudi.
| No entry for Dr Pravin Togadia in Bengaluru for a week |
Reacting on the ban Dr Togadia said the order by the Bengaluru Police Commissioner is based on hearsay lopsided unverified media reports, concocted internet posts and on the so-called politically motivated cases as old as from 2003 of which most have been already thrown out by the courts as non-cases.
He said rather than focussing on making the city safer for the residents and curbing the activities of jihadis working for the radicals like ISIS, the Commissioner of Police is targeting a renowned Cancer Surgeon who is trying to spread the message through India Health Line for a Healthy Nation, Happy Nation, introduce mobile app to make blood available for the needy patients in emergency, make people at large aware by spreading the message in over 100 rallies across India past two months regarding social harmony among all Indians and focussing on eradicating untouchability.
He said during the last two months he has organised over 100 rallies all over India from Coorg to Kanyakumari, Hyderabad to Mumbai, Ahmedabad to Lucknow and from Aurangabad to Bharuch cutting across all states, regions and towns and he has been travelling all those places by road and by many other means, meeting various people from many walks of life, addressing rallies as well as small groups of professionals like CAs, lawyers, doctors, industrialists and students with the sole objective to make the nation united and safe. “It should be the aim for all of us Indians to make the nation united, safe, healthy and prosperous. With this message many focused messages are being given to the public at large to take the nation ahead,” he said.
Rather than making an effort to know from the concerned people or organisation as to what would be topics of speeches in the rally on February 8, where prominent scientists, social thinkers, etc too will be on the dais, the Commissioner, through his subordinates, unilaterally thrust the entry prohibition order in the hands of Dr Togadia at Bengaluru Airport when he was just going to have dinner.
Dr Togadia said the Commissioner did not even make a simple observation that there had been many hurtful incidents against the Scheduled Castes, women, Janjatis and other communities where he has not done any rally so far. For example, in Maharashtra, a Scheduled Caste family was burnt alive; in Bengaluru, many youths went following ISIS; in Bengaluru itself many little minor girls were molested/raped in their schools. “Holding an educated person, a Cancer Surgeon responsible for sundry incidents as if he is a hardened criminal, just because he happens to be one of the office bearers of VHP and banning his entry in the educated city like Bengaluru for over a week is like holding a sporadic crowing crow for the deafness of the world. It is the most autocratic, obnoxious, dictatorial and paranoid action obviously taken at the instance of the officer’s political masters,” he said. Bengaluru is the city, where Dr Togadia has visited at least over 50 times during the last five years, held many meetings with CAs, doctors, lawyers, students, professors, families of wealthy as well as poor people etc. No communal or whatsoever tension rose then!
All these times, the same Commissioner of Police did not issue such an offending prohibition order. Had Dr Togadia wanted to spread malice, he did not need a rally for it; in the national media, his own social media and small meeting that he had held so far in Bengaluru, he could have done so. But as a matter of fact, he has
been all the time focusing on spreading Samarasta, health, safety, prosperity and dignity through his meetings there. n
