BENGALURU: Known for his “anti-Muslim” and “misogynistic” comments, Anantkumar Hegde has stirred controversy’s pot yet again.
The Union minister of State for Skill Development on Sunday attacked attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi by calling him a “paradesi (foreigner) born to a Muslim and a Christian.”
“This Muslim who calls himself a ‘janeudhari’ Hindu, is there any proof that he is a Hindu? This son of a Muslim, whose mother is a Christian, does he have any proof? I am not joking,” Hegde said at a function in Sirsi in Karnataka on March 9.
“The whole world is praising our soldiers for their courage and bravery and this man [Rahul Gandhi] wants proof of the damage caused in the attack [the Balakot airstrike],” said the five-time Lok Sabha member from Uttara Kannada.
He went on, “But how did the son of a Muslim become a Brahmin named Gandhi? He was born to a Muslim and a Christian. How does he become a Brahmin? Can he provide DNA proof?”
#WATCH: Union Minister Ananth Hegde says on Rahul Gandhi, "They want proof of surgical strikes even when whole world acknowledged it. This Muslim who calls himself a 'janeudhari Hindu', son of a Muslim father & a Christian mother, does he have proof that he is a Hindu"? (10.3.19) pic.twitter.com/FWXFky5jXH
— ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2019
Hegde’s reference was to Rahul Gandhi‘s father Rajiv Gandhi whom he termed a “Muslim”. The latter’s father was Feroze Gandhi, a Parsi from Gujarat.
In January, Hegde had hit out at Rahul Gandhi, saying, “His father was a Muslim, mother is a Christian. How can he be Hindu?”
During the Karnataka Assembly polls in May last year, the Union Minister had dubbed the Congress president a ‘fake Hindu’.
This is not the first time Hegde has made such insinuations. Earlier, Hegde has ridiculed the Muslim community and made derogatory comments against Muslim wife of a politician and has never apologised for his remarks.