'Neither shaken nor surprised': Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge says getting threat calls, abuses for questioning RSS

Bengaluru: Karnataka IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge claimed that he was receiving “calls filled with threats, intimidation and the filthiest abuse” after he called for a ban on the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from using government premises for its activities.

“For the past two days, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Calls filled with threats, intimidation and the filthiest abuse directed at me and my family, simply because I dared to question and restrain RSS activities in government schools, colleges and public institutions,” Priyank said in a tweet.

“But I’m neither shaken nor surprised. When the RSS didn’t spare Mahatma Gandhi or Babasaheb Ambedkar, why would they spare me?” Priyank, the son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, said.

On October 4, Priyank wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking a prohibition on RSS holding activities on government properties.

“An organisation named the RSS has been using government and aided schools and public government grounds for shakas, and, through sloganeering, has been developing thoughts in the minds of children and youths against the integrity of the country and the intentions of the Constitution,” Priyank wrote.

Siddaramaiah has directed Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh to examine Priyank’s appeal.

Priyank said he cannot be silenced. “If they think threats and personal jibes will silence me, they are mistaken. This has just begun,” he said. “It is time to build a society founded on the principles of Buddha, Basavanna and Babasaheb, society rooted in equality, reason and compassion and purge this nation of the most dangerous viRuSS [sic],” he said.

On Tuesday, Priyank doubled down on his offensive against the RSS. He questioned the RSS’ source of funding and asked why the organisation had not registered with any Indian state government. “Also, why does (RSS chief) have so much security, akin to the country’s home minister and external affairs minister?” he asked.

The Opposition BJP has slammed Priyank for seeking a ban on RSS’ activities in public places.

“Successive Congress governments have repeatedly planned and plotted to ban the RSS, but have failed utterly every time - owing to the RSS ideology of nationalism and social reform always triumphing over the sinister, anti-national designs of the Congress,” Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra said.