Karnataka - Bangalore   

Take action: Dwarakanath

Bangalore: Three days after Karnataka Permanent Backward Classes Commission Chairperson C.S. Dwarakanath was allegedly gheraoed by a group led by the local BJP MLA in Madikeri, who forced him to drink “theertha” even as they accused him of being “anti-Hindu”, the Madikeri police have not initiated any action against those responsible for the incident.

Kodagu Superintendent of Police Sandeep Patil said that Mr. Dwarakanath had not registered any complaint and suo motu proceedings will not be initiated because he was “not attacked”, but had “accepted the ‘theertha’ himself”.

Mr. Dwarakanath countered this version by saying that he was “confined” by a 150-strong group of BJP supporters on the morning of February 7 and “forced to drink the theertha while a tilaka was put on my forehead”. He said he was “helpless, not willing”.

Suo motu action should be initiated by the police, he said, as he is a judicial authority on a par with a High Court judge, and the incident happened in the presence of the police in a government guest house.

Recounting the incident, Mr. Dwarakanath told The Hindu that he had gone on a visit to Kodagu on February 6, in his official capacity as the Commission Chairperson, with other members. They briefly visited Bhagamandala on February 6 afternoon after inspecting a settlement of the Kappalas, a backward classes community under Category I. “We went to Bhagamandala because it is less than five kilometres from the settlement. I did not even go anywhere near the temple. So the question of refusing or accepting the “theertha” does not arise,” said Mr. Dwarakanath.

Mr. Dwarakanath was, however, mobbed the next morning by a group led by BJP MLA K.G. Bopaiah at the guest house in Madikeri. Accusing him of insulting Hinduism and the Cauvery by refusing to accept “theertha” the previous day at Bhagamandala, they forcibly made him drink “theertha” which they had brought in a bottle and put “tilaka” on his forehead. They used abusive language and accused him of being “anti-Hindu”. Many members in the mob, according to him, were drunk and in no position to listen to reason. He added that the police who were with him were pushed aside by the mob.

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