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Vedike to stage protest tomorrow

Special Correspondent

Condemns `ambivalent attitude' of JD(S) to BJP demand on Shoba Yatra

MAKING A PLEA: Karnataka Komu Sauharda Vedike activists stopped Home Minister M.P. Prakash's car near Gandhi Bhavan in Bangalore on Thursday and submitted a memorandum urging him not to allow Datta Mala and Shoba Yatra ceremonies at Bababudangiri and to take action to restore communal harmony in Mangalore. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Bangalore: Various political parties and organisations working for communal harmony have condemned the "ambivalent attitude" of the Janata Dal (Secular) towards its coalition partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand to hold Datta Mala and Shoba Yatra ceremonies in Chikmagalur district.

Karnataka Komu Sauharda Vedike has said it will hold a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office in Chikmagalur on Saturday if any effort is made to inflame communal tension in Bababudangiri in Chikmagalur district. This will be followed by Statewide protests. Vedike president K.L. Ashok said in a press release here on Thursday that the ceremony of Datta Mala was "against the inclusive Sufi spirit of the place and is an effort to Brahminise the non-Vedic Datta tradition." Banning the ritual would not amount to an anti-Hindu act, but would only be an effort to keep alive the true subaltern spirit of Bababudangiri, he added. The vedike has submitted a memorandum to Home Minister M.P. Prakash in this regard.

A Communist Party of India (Marxist) spokesperson said Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy was "confusing people by giving contradictory statements." While the Home Minister had earlier clearly said that rituals such as Shoba Yatra and Datta Mala would not be allowed, the Chief Minister had made statements that lent credibility to the BJP's demand, party secretary G.N. Nagaraj said in a press release. The implication of tampering with the court verdict and the secular spirit of Bababudangiri would be dire, he added.

In an appeal, Karnataka Pradesh Janata Party secretary Ashok Navalgund urged the Chief Minister not to "buckle under the pressure of communal parties."

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