Togadia’s anti-Muslim rant triggers outrage

Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) president Pravin Togadia has sent shockwaves throughout the country by asking his followers not to allow Muslims to buy properties in Hindu localities.

Even as a large group of members of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, the VHP’s militant youth wing, was protesting outside the house of a Muslim businessman in a Hindu-dominated area in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar city on Saturday evening, he told his supporters chanting Vedic hymns to embarrass the landlord, to forcibly occupy the property if it was not vacated within 48 hours.

The police were guarding the house when this report went to the Press and Togadia’s statement sparked strong reactions from political parties but a Rashtritya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) functionary here told Khaleej Times that there was no truth in the report.

However, it is an open secret that protests by Hindu activists near houses bought by Muslims in Hindu areas are common in Bhavnagar and other towns of Gujarat’s Saurashtra region.

According to an eye-witneses, Togadia, said to be a surgeon, even boasted that there were two ways to stop “such deals” — pressurise the state government to bring in Disturbed Areas Act in Bhavnagar which will prevent inter-community sale of immovable property, and take forcible possession of the house, put a Bajrang Dal board outside its gate and fight a legal battle which will go on for years on end.

“This election is the best time to pressurise political parties to ensure safety of Hindus”, Togadia told the protesters.

Togadia does not see eye to eye with BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his VHP is a key constituent of the Sangh Parivar, an umbrella of Hindu nationalist organisations that includes the BJP.

The RSS, its ideological fountainhead, has denied that Togadia made those statements. “I have spoken to Praveen Togadia, he completely denies making such comments. It is fabricated. No Swayamsevak thinks on such divisive lines. They think of all people as one. One people, one nation,” said RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav, as the alleged statement created an uproar.

In New Delhi, Congress leader Rashid Alvi said: “I think Praveen Togadia should be treated. He should be hospitalised. In this country, if Hindus stay in a Hindu area and Muslims in a Muslim area, and they are not allowed to buy property in each other’s areas, it is against the Constitution.”

The BJP’s ally Akali Dal also condemned the VHP leader’s comment. “Anybody who speaks this kind of language has no place in our society. I feel that not only should parties expel such people but they should also be disfranchised.”

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also urged the Election Commission of India to direct immediate registration of an FIR against Togadia for “vitiating the peaceful atmosphere during elections”.

Terming the act as “shocking and shameful”, going against the Constitution of India which provides equality and freedom for every citizen, the AAP said in a release that Modi should publicly repudiate this act, and take strict action against Togadia.

mahesh@khaleejtimes.com

• India