'Up to Centre, Maharashtra government to decide on Sanatan ban'

Panaji: Banning the Sanatan Sanstha in Goa, whose members have allegedly been linked to the murders of rationalists Gauri Lankesh and Narendra Dabholkar, is the responsibility of the Central government and the state authorities in Maharashtra, state BJP president Vinay Tendulkar told reporters here on Tuesday.

"That is the Central government's responsibility or the Maharashtra government will look at it," Tendulkar said, when asked whether the Sanstha, which is headquartered in Goa's Ramnathi village, should be banned after some of its members were arrested for their alleged links to the murders of the rationalists.

Asked for his personal opinion on the issue of banning the Sanstha, Tendulkar said: "What I feel or what anybody feels, it does not make a difference".

He added that the truth about the links of Sanatan members would come out when the courts begin to try the cases filed against members of the sect.

In 2015, Tendulkar had likened the demand to ban the Sanatan Sanstha to demands for banning the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

"If there are charges (against Sanatan Sanstha members), they have not been proven... Earlier, such demands were made against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The Congress was in power for several years, but they did not have courage to ban RSS," Tendulkar had said, when asked for his party's view on demands to ban the Sanstha.