Pramod Muthalik,founder of the Sri Ram Sene that attacked women in a Mangalore pub in January this year,was in New Delhi yesterday. He addressed over a hundred delegates of Hindu organisations at a meeting held at an ashram in Paharganj,near the New Delhi railway station,before slipping out of the Capital today.
Muthalik,who has earned notoriety for attacking pubs,vandalizing churches,and making inflammatory speeches across Karnataka,held forth on his Hindu agenda before his audience a gathering of representatives from fringe organisations having past associations with the RSS,and in some cases,the BJPs student arm,the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
While Muthalik has addressed several meetings in the southern states and Maharashtra in the past,this was his first foray into the national capital.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central District) Jaspal Singh in whose jurisdiction the venue for Muthaliks meeting lies said he was not aware of Muthaliks presence in Delhi.
Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya told The Indian Express,Muthalik is facing around 40 cases in the state. But I dont know why he went to Delhi.
The delegates who attended the meeting at Muthaliks invitation,provided some details of what transpired.
Muthalik is said to have told them: Pubs,Valentines Day,and universities will stay high on our priority list. We now need to focus on the plight of the Hindus in countries like Sri Lanka and Malaysia as well. We have constituted a 15-member body to coordinate our activities across the country.
Rajeev Chauhan,who claims to have headed the students union at Meeruts Chaudhary Charan Singh University as an ABVP leader in 2004 and now runs an organisation called Hindu Yuva Samkalp,said: After this fruitful meeting,we now need to fan out to universities and make sure that women students adhere to a dress code. Else they would continue to be waylaid by youth of other communities.
Sri Ram Senes Vilas Pawar,who is also a deputy to Muthalik,said: There are leaders like Indresh in the RSS who have now taken to appeasing Muslims by launching a forum like the Rashtriya Muslim Manch. We need to resist such tendencies,and fight for the Hindu cause.
Dhananjay Desai,who heads the Mumbai-based Hindu Rashtra Sena,and was present at Muthaliks meeting,said: I organised the attack on Star News in Mumbai in 2006 for carrying a story on a Hindu girl who had been kidnapped by a Muslim boy.
Around 12 organisations turned up for the meeting,it is learnt. These organisations go by names like Hindu Sanskriti Manch,Hindu Peoples Party,Dara Sena,Hindu Yuva Sena,Raudra Sena,Hindu Makkal Katchi and Abhinav Bharat Manch.
Muthalik was present in Delhi on Saturday,the first day of the two-day meeting. He returned to Bangalore on Sunday to report to the police in one of the many cases he faces in the state.


