Headlines
Togadia's entry banned in Karnataka coastal town
Bengaluru, March 8
Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP)
international working president Pravin Togadia's entry into Udupi in
Karnataka's coastal district has been banned for a week from Sunday to
maintain peace and law and order in the area, police said.
"We
have banned Togadia's entry into this temple town till March 13 under
section 144(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to ensure peace and
social harmony," Udupi district Superintendent of Police K. Annamalai
told IANS.
The temple town is about 400 km away Bengaluru.
Though
the ban sparked protests by right wing activists in the coastal region,
including Mangaluru, the police were firm on not allowing the
controversial leader from entering the district or the pilgrim town.
"We
have permitted the organisers of Hindu Samjotsava to hold a rally in
the city peacefully on Monday, but barred Togadia from entering the
district, as we do not want him to cause trouble by making provocative
speech against anyone irrespective of religion, castes and community,"
Annamalai said.
The district authorities also stepped up vigil in
the town and the venue by deploying additional force to regulate the
crowds at the rally and monitor their movement through closed circuit
television cameras.
Togadia's entry into Bengaluru was banned a
month ago for a similar rally on an order from the state government,
which was upheld by the Karnataka High Court.
The organisers,
however, defied the ban and screened a video clip on Togadia's fiery
speech at the fag end of the event on February 9 when most of the people
gathered for the occasion had disbursed and the police was caught
off-guard.
"The organisation has gone to the high court for
lifting the ban and allowing Togadia's entry, claiming that he did not
create any law and order during his earlier visits to the state,
including the coastal region," Annamalai added.
The case is slated for hearing here on Monday.
"The
ban on our leader is unwarranted and is aimed at hurting sentiments of
thousands of people at the behest of the Congress government, which is
anti-Hindu," VHP's district president Suprasad Shetty told reporters at
Udupi.
Togadia addressed a similar rally at Udupi in 2003 without causing provocation or law and order problem.