Apologise for ‘hurting Hindu sentiments’, Ashoka tells D K Shivakumar

A political storm has erupted after Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that the Chamundeshwari temple atop Chamundi Hill in Mysuru does not belong exclusively to Hindus. 

BJP leaders strongly condemned the remark, accusing the Congress government of deliberately hurting Hindu sentiments and appeasing minority groups for political gain. They demanded an immediate apology from the deputy CM to the Hindu community.

At a press conference, leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said the ruling Congress was humiliating Hindus — from Dharmasthala to Chamundi Hill — and questioned whether such statements implied that the Hill might be handed over to the Waqf Board or if a church or tomb would come up there.

Ashoka drew attention to the Mysuru Wadiyars’ long tradition of worshipping Chamundeshwari as their family deity. He criticised the government’s decision to invite writer Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate Dasara, questioning as to how ‘those who mocked state deity Bhuvaneshwari Devi and the turmeric, vermilion representation of the red and yellow colours in the Kannada flag’ could now be welcomed to worship the goddess.

BJP state president B Y Vijayendra also demanded an apology from Shivakumar, calling his comments a grave insult, designed to please the Gandhi family.

Vijayendra asserted that Chamundi Hill was historically and spiritually a Hindu space and flayed the Congress for insulting Hindu beliefs.

He criticised Shivakumar’s plan to erect a 115-foot statue of Jesus Christ near Ramanagar as vote-bank politics.

Vijayendra said Deepa Bhasthi, co-winner of Booker Prize for translating Banu Mushtaq’s Kannada work into English, should also have been invited to inaugurate Dasara, along with Mushtaq. 

He demanded a thorough and time-bound investigation by SIT, NIA or CBI to nail those spreading misinformation about Dharmasthala, condemning the government for ‘arresting Hindus over social media posts’.