RSS leader booked over hate speech at Deepotsava event

ARashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader has been engaged o'er alleged communally-charged remarks made during a spoken language at a Deepotsava case in Uppalige hamlet, Puttur taluk on October 20, police officers familiar with the development said on Friday.According to Puttur rural police inspector Tamburaj Mahajan, the case was registered against RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat, under sections 79 ((intent to insult the modesty of a woman), 302 (deliberate intent to wound religious feelings) and 3(5) (criminal act by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the BNS on Saturday, based on a complaint filed by Eshwari Padmunja, a women’s rights activist.Police said the speech was reportedly broadcast on a private YouTube news channel. The FIR thus also cites BNS Section 299, criminalizing the promotion of enmity through electronic means.According to Padmunja’s complaint, despite Bhat’s alleged history of making communally charged speeches, the event organizers invited him to the gathering.In her complaint, Padmunja urged police to take stringent action to prevent similar hate-filled speeches, warning that such rhetoric threatens both communal harmony and women’s dignity.During the Deepotsava address, Bhat allegedly made controversial remarks about the reproductive practices of the minority community. According to the complaint, he said:”In one house, there was a woman who already had six children and was pregnant with the seventh. Did anyone question her? No one dares. They say it’s for Allah. Do you have children for Mahalingeshwara? Our people must increase our population.”He also commented on electoral demographics, particularly in the Ullal constituency. “In Ullal, it is impossible for a Hindu to win. Khader (referring to MLA U.T. Khader) always wins because there are over 1.1 lakh votes from that community, while Hindus are only around 90,000. How can we win? They will destroy us. Hence, in every Hindu home, there should be no fewer than three children.”Police said that the investigation is ongoing.Meanwhile, in a related development, state minister Priyank Kharge on Sunday renewed his call for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to be barred from holding activities in state-run schools, colleges, and temples.“RSS is not above the law and Constitution. How long will this go on? Every citizen and organisation in the country must be accountable,” he said, addressing reporters in Bengaluru.He reiterated his earlier appeal to chief minister Siddaramaiah to prohibit the organisation’s involvement in state institutions, accusing it of “brainwashing young minds” and advancing ideas contrary to the principles enshrined in the Constitution. “Government spaces should not become platforms for ideological conditioning,” Kharge said, arguing that public institutions must remain secular and inclusive.Responding to Kharge’s comments, Leader of Opposition in the assembly and BJP leader R Ashoka defended the RSS as an organisation that “promotes patriotism,” and claimed that it operates outside an institutional framework. “If there are doubts about any organisation, there are lawful ways to look into them,” he said, reiterating his claim that the organisation was being allegedly targeted by the government to distract from administrative lapses.