The Hindu : Furore over Deve Gowda's statement

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 13, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

Furore over Deve Gowda's statement

By Our Special Correspondent

Bangalore Sept. 12. The statement reportedly made by the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, at a press conference in Bijapur on Thursday that Lingayats and Vokkaligas consumed beef, is causing a major controversy with the BJP taking serious exception to Mr. Gowda's statement today.

The Vokkaligara Hitarakshana Samiti will organise a demonstration near the Basaveshwara statue here on Saturday to protest against the statement, and demand an apology from Mr. Gowda for "hurting the sentiments" of the two communities.

Describing the statement as one intended to placate a section, senior BJP legislators told a press conference that it was strange that Mr. Gowda, who was a former Prime Minister and former Chief Minister, was not aware of the directive principles of the Constitution on the steps to be taken to ban cow slaughter.

They wanted religious leaders to take note of Mr. Gowda's statement, and admonish him as such comments would have disastrous consequences. One of the leaders wanted the President to take action against Mr. Gowda, who, he said, had violated the oath of allegiance to the Constitution and could not continue as an MP.

The press conference was addressed by Suresh Kumar and Shivanna, R. Ashok, MLAs; Ramachandra Gowda and Vimala Gowda, MLCs; and S. Pramila, former MLA.

The President of the State unit of the BJP, Ananth Kumar, said Mr.Gowda's statement betrayed his ignorance of Indian culture. Mr. Gowda was hurting the feelings of the majority community to appease a particular community, he alleged.

Mr. Kumar referred to a statement reportedly made by Mr. Gowda in Mysore that he would like to be born as a Muslim in his next birth, and said such statements, which were "intended to please" a community, were part of a political strategy. Mr. Gowda should refrains from making statements that would divide society, he added.

BJP to hold rally

Our Bidar Staff Correspondent reports:

The BJP has organised a rally in Bidar on Saturday in protest against Mr. Gowda's reported statement.

Apology sought

Our Raichur Staff Correspondent writes:

The Raichur district unit of the BJP has criticised Mr. Gowda. In a letter to the Governor, T.N. Chaturvedi, N. Shankarappa, the General Secretary of the State unit of the party, and the President of the city unit, A. Papa Reddy, said that the former Prime Minister's statement had hurt the sentiments of the Hindus. Demanding an apology from Mr. Gowda, they appealed to the Governor to take action against him.

Krishna Raj Asude, Judge of the Principal JMFC (II) Court here, has issued a direction to the Police Sub-Inspector of the Sadar Bazar Police Station to investigate Mr. Gowda's reported statement, and submit his report to the court before October 10.

The Judge was responding to a private complaint filed by H. Jagadish.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News Update

Stories in this Section

An inspiring new world that is open to all

Fruit traders told to shift to new APMC yard

Funds crunch, poor infrastructure dog SSIs

Shipping service to help traders

Panel for drug testing lab

`Preventive healthcare poor'

Cloud seeding: `Use 10 planes'

Relief work: Surprise visit by Sonia likely

Census to help animal husbandry

Furore over Deve Gowda's statement