Chamundi Hills open to all faiths, says Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar
Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday defended the decision to invite writer Banu Mushtaq for the inauguration of Mysuru Dasara, countering BJP’s objections.
Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said Chamundi Hills is a shrine open to people of all faiths. “People from every community visit Chamundi Hills and pray to the Goddess. We too visit mosques, dargahs, Jain basadis, churches, and gurdwaras. Has anyone ever stopped us from entering a gurdwara? Have we objected to people of other faiths entering Hindu temples? Anyone is free to go to any place of worship,” he said.
Questioning BJP’s stance, he remarked: “So many Hindus have converted to Islam or Christianity, and many from other faiths have embraced Hinduism. Don’t Muslims also follow Hindu traditions in certain practices? Why is there no board in Ayodhya saying only Hindus should come to Lord Rama? Why this selective objection now?”
Shivakumar further asked why, if BJP truly objected to minority representation, they did not abolish Haj Committees or the Minority Affairs department when they were in power. “All of this is politics,” he said, stressing that India is a secular nation where the Constitution guarantees rights and freedom to every citizen.
He added that even children of interfaith couples have the freedom to follow the religion of their choice, protected under the Constitution.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
PM Modi, myself don't have 'wife issue': Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): In a friendly banter, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he didn’t have "the wife issue", as the Congress MP emphasised that everyone has learnt from women in their lives.
Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on the three bills introduced for amendments to the women's quota law and setting up a delimitation commission, Gandhi said women are a driving force in the national imagination and national perspective.
"All of us in this room have been influenced, taught, and have learnt a lot from women in our lives – from mothers, sisters, wives," Gandhi said.
"Of course, the prime minister and myself don't have the wife issue, so we don't get that input, but we have our mothers and sisters," he said while referring to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju's light-hearted remark that he got a scolding at home as he did not pen a poem for his wife like Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal did.
Gandhi also lauded his sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi's speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
"Yesterday, I was watching my sister achieve in five minutes what I have not been able to do in 20 years of my political career – make Amit Shah Ji smile," Gandhi said to peals of laughter.
