Right-wing groups protest at Qutb Minar, demand it be renamed to Vishnu Stambh; 44 detained
New Delhi, May 10: Members of a right-wing group on Tuesday recited the Hanuman Chalisa outside the Qutub Minar complex and staged a protest demanding that the iconic monument be renamed 'Vishnu Stambha'.
Police said no permission was granted for the gathering and 44 demonstrators were detained and taken to a police station.
"Permission was not granted for the gathering. However, 50 persons, belonging to United Hindu Front and Rashtravadi Shiv Sena had gathered for the demonstration. Out of whom, 44 protestors were detained under relevant section of the Delhi Police Act," said Benita Mary Jaiker, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South).
International working president of the United Hindu Front, Bhagwan Goyal, claimed that the Qutub Minar is the 'Vishnu Stambha', which was built by the "great king Vikramaditya".
"But later, Qutubuddin Aibak claimed credit for it. There were 27 temples in the complex and those were destroyed by Aibak. Proof of all this is available as people can find idols of Hindu gods kept in the Qutub Minar complex. Our demand is that Qutub Minar should be called as Vishnu Stambha," he told PTI.
The protestors chanted 'Jai Shri Ram', recited the Hanuman Chalisa and displayed placards reading "Qutub Minar should be called Vishnu Stambha", after the Hindu God Vishnu.
Goyal claimed that idols are kept at different spots in the complex and demanded that they should be kept at one place and that the people should be allowed to pray there.
"We have given a memorandum of our demands to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy," he said.
He said that Tuesday's Hanuman Chalisa recitation and protest programme was to highlight the demand of several Hindu groups.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
