Bengaluru: Adding to the growing list of indecent comments from saffron party leaders especially the serial offender Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde on Sunday has yet again created a controversy with his wild, bold communal statements while addressing a public event in Karnataka’s Kodagu district.
‘Any hand that touches a Hindu girl ‘should not exist’ and that lord Ram and Sita will soon be addressed as Jahanpanah and Bibi are few comments he made on Twitter in a spat with Congress leader dragging his Muslim wife into the online spat, NDTV reports.
“We have to rethink the priorities of our society. We shouldn’t think of caste. If a Hindu girl is touched by a hand, then that hand should not exist,” said Anantkumar Hegde.
Speaking at the public event, in front of a huge crowd that turned out on Sunday, he said: “Taj Mahal was not built by Muslims. It’s definitely not built by Muslims, the history speaks for it. Shah Jahan in his autobiography has said he bought this palace from King Jayasimha. It’s a Shiv Mandir built by King Paramatheertha, Tejo Mahalaya. Tejo Mahalaya became Taj Mahal. If we keep sleeping, most of our houses also will be named manzil. In future, Lord Ram will be called jahanpana and Sita will become bibi.”
Hedge was condemned for his vicious attack on Karnataka’s Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao whose wife is Tabu Rao- a Muslim.
Rao called his comments as “deplorable” and tweeted: “Wht are ur achievements after becoming a Union Minister or as MP? Wht are ur contributions for Karnataka’s development? All I can say for sure, it’s deplorable tht such people have become ministers & have managed to get elected as MP’s.”
@AnantkumarH
Wht are ur achievements after becoming a Union Minister or as MP?
Wht are ur contributions for Karnataka’s development?
All I can say for sure,it’s deplorable tht such people have become ministers & have managed to get elected as MP’s. https://t.co/IMtjPSj9aK— Dinesh Gundu Rao/ದಿನೇಶ್ ಗುಂಡೂರಾವ್ (@dineshgrao) January 27, 2019
To that Mr Hedge stooped too low and replied:
I shall definitely answer this guy @dineshgrao's queries, before which could he please reveal himself as to who he is along with his achievements?
I only know him as a guy who ran behind a Muslim lady. https://t.co/8hVJ2wQXMU— Anantkumar Hegde (@AnantkumarH) January 27, 2019
In hedge’s response, Mr Gundu Rao tweeted back:
“Sad to see @AnantkumarH stoop to such low levels as to bring in personal issues. Guess it’s his lack of culture. Guess he hasn’t learnt from our Hindu scriptures. Time hasn’t run out, he can still try and become a more dignified human.”
Mr Hegde, a senior BJP leader from Karnataka is known for his provocative remarks that didn’t end even after he joined the central government in 2017.
Last year, he described Dalit protesters who waylaid his convoy en route to a job fair in Karnataka’s Ballari as “dogs barking on the road”, soon followed by another provocative comment as he compared the opposition party leaders to “crows, monkeys, foxes and others” that had come together to fight the tiger that’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.