Speaking at a Bajrang Dal event, he also said that the 2002 Gujarat riots showed the "courage and ability of Hindus".
VHP leader Sharam Pumpwell makes inflammatory remarks in the murder case of BJP Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Nettaru at Tumkuru on Saturday.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Sharan Pumpwell stoked a huge controversy by defending the apparent revenge killing carried out by Hindu outfits against Muslims in the murder case of Praveen Nettaru.
He was speaking at the Bajrang Dal’s Shourya Yatra in Tumakuru city in Karnataka on Saturday, 28 January, when he made the remarks.
Addressing members of various Hindu outfits, Pumpwell said: “In order to reply to those Muslim jihadists who were involved in the murder of Praveen Nettaru, the hot-blooded youths from Surathkal took revenge.”
“The retaliation was not in an isolated place but in the open market — in front of the people who attacked them. They took revenge for the murder of Praveen Nettaru. This is the strength and efficiency of Hindu youths,” said Pumpwell.
This sparked controversy as Pumpwell was seen as admitting that the Hindu outfits carried out the revenge killings against Muslims in the Praveen Nettaru murder case.
The event was held at Tilak Nagar Police Station limits at Tumkuru on Saturday.
“No complaints have been registered on the alleged inflammatory remarks made by Sharan Pumpwell. We will not take suo motu cases in his speech. The law and order situation is stable in place in the city,” a police sub-inspector attached to the Tilak Nagar Police Station told South First.
Denying that he had spoken about any specific killings, Sharan Pumpwell told South First: “I have not defended any revenge killings. I have only spoken about the strength and power of the youths.”
He added: “Hindus can also retaliate against the atrocities of Muslims. I spoke only the truth at the event. I neither made any controversial statement nor pointed out any specific killings in the Praveen Nettaru murder case.”
The Congress hit out at the VHP leader for making the statement.
“It is an effort to polarise the state before the Assembly polls. It is the hidden agenda of the RSS and the BJP. The state government must take action against Pumpwell for his attempt to disturb the law-and-order situation,” demanded Congress leaders.
Two days after the murder of Praveen Nettaru, a group of miscreants affiliated with Hindutva outfits hacked 23-year-old Mohammed Fazil to death in Mangaluru on 28 July, 2022.
Within a week, the Mangaluru City Police cracked the case and arrested six people connected to it. All the accused were Hindus.
“Accused Suhas, hailing from Bajpe, had a discussion with Abhishek to kill someone after identifying six-seven targets. But they executed only one person on 28 July night,” PSI Chandrappa K told South First at the time.
Even six months after the murder of Fazil, his family is yet to receive compensation from the Karnataka government.
The Opposition criticised the state government for neither any of the Cabinet ministers visiting the victim’s family members nor providing compensation for the family.
Meanwhile, the Bommai-led-Karnataka-government has not only provided compensation of over Rs 25 lakh but also gave a government job to the wife of Praveen Nettaru in the chief minister’s secretariat.
After six months, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against the 20 accused persons in the murder case of Praveen Nettaru murder case.
BJP Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Nettaru was hacked to death on the night of 26 July at Bellare in Sullia town of Dakshina Kannada.
The murder was reportedly carried out by the miscreants affiliated with the Popular Front of India (PFI) in retaliation to the murder of 19-year-old Muslim youth, who was aa resident of Kerala.
The NIA in its charge sheet said Nettaru’s murder was part of an agenda to create terror, communal hatred, and unrest in society. The murder was perpetrated by the recently-banned PFI, it added.
“The PFI formed secret teams called ‘Service Teams’ or ‘Killer Sqauds’ to carry out killings of its perceived enemies and targets. As per instructions, four persons were recced and identified, and among them, Praveen Nettaru was assaulted and killed in full public view with lethal weapons to create terror among the people at large and especially among members of the particular community,” said in the NIA charge sheet.
Most of the accused were from various parts of the Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts. The central investigative agency arrested 20 people connected to the Praveen Nettaru murder case.
In the midst of the nationwide debate over the BBC documentary India: The Modi Question, Pumpwell also said on Saturday that the 2002 Gujarat riots showed the “courage and ability of Hindus”.
He said: “A Hindu is never a weak one. They can never be incompetent. We have proven our strength to the world. Remember what happened in Gujarat? There were 58 Hindu Karsevaks travelling on a train to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya. They were set ablaze.
He continued: “How did Gujarat reply? No Hindus sat in their homes. They came to the streets and entered each and every house. For the murder of 58 karsevaks, how many succumbed in Gujarat? Almost 2,000 people were killed in Gujarat.”
On the statement of CLP leader Siddaramaiah, who had said that the BJP had turned Karnataka’s coastal region into a Hindutva factory, Sharan said: “It is not just Mangaluru, Udupi, and Dakshina Kannada. In the coming days, Tumkuru and all the remaining districts of the state will be converted into a Hindutva factory.”
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