Goa MLA slams BJP govt for lifting ban on Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik
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Panaji: Goa Forward Party President Vijai Sardesai called out the state’s BJP government for lifting the ban on Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik entering the state.
Sardesai was responding to the Governor’s Address in the Goa Legislative Assembly when he criticized the government for allowing Muthalik to enter the state, The Indian Express reported.
Sardesai vehemently said ‘Manohar Parrikar had imposed a ban on Sri Ram Sene. Why? Because their chief would make communal and inflammatory speeches. Was Parrikar mad or has Muthalik changed his ways? He entered the state and spoke about ‘love jihad’.’
Back in 2014 , Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar banned Muthalik’s entry in Goa after Sri Ram Sene chief announced that he would launch his outfit in Goa to ‘fight against drug, alcohol and pub culture’.
The ban was imposed following police reports that Sri Ram Sene’s entry to the state could cause law and order issues alongside Muthalik’s statements could ‘affect peace, harmony and create fear in the minds of the public’.
The district magistrates of two districts in Goa kept extending the ban on the leader every few months for over a decade.
However, Muthalik entered Goa and met former Goa RSS chief-turned-rebel Subhash Velingkar in Panaji earlier this week after the ban lapsed.
Sardesai , representing Fatorda constituency, said that Muthalik had approached ‘the Supreme Court to get the ban lifted but the SC said they will not lift the ban since he does moral policing. Isn’t ‘love jihad’ moral policing? What is the government’s stand on this? Is the government trying to create a law-and-order situation and finish tourism? It is clear that any confusion created will have an impact on tourism. Till date (sic), the Goans have refused to allow this spark of communal tension to spread. The government is going out of the way to destroy this brotherhood. Is this (being done) to create a diversion from scams?’
Meanwhile, the Congress legislator Carlos Ferreira pointed out that cases of communal hatred are on the rise in the state.