BJP Lok Sabha MP Ananth Kumar Hegde has landed in trouble with the police registering a criminal case against him suo motu for his alleged remarks linking Islam to terrorism.
The case has been booked at Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district under section 295(A) of IPC relating to “deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs,” police said.
The five-time MP from Uttara Kannada had allegedly made the remarks at a press conference at Sirsi last Sunday, drawing a link between Islam and terrorism, triggering protests from Muslim organisations.
Muslim organisations in the communally sensitive Bhatkal town in the district had held protests and submitted a memorandum to the district Superintendent of Police Vamsi Krishna, calling for action against Hegde. Krishna said security had been tightened in Bhatkal as a precautionary step.
A party MP from Karnataka has associated Islam with terrorism just days after the hate speech against the Muslim community by Minister of State for Human Resource and Development (HRD) Ram Shankar Katheria at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) event in Agra.
“Till the time Islam exists in the world, no one can stop terrorism. If we want to keep a place like Bhatkal peaceful, then we should throw Islam away from this world and we should shut Islam,” BJP MP Ananth Kumar Hegde told a press conference.
Katheria’s speech at the condolence meeting for a VHP worker at Agra where he called on the Hindu Community to unite against Muslims rocked the Parliament with both Houses witnessing disruptions over the incendiary speeches at the event.
Katheria, however, claimed that he had not targeted any community in his speech.
