"Baseless" RSS says on K'taka MLA's allegation that he was denied entry at RSS museum based on caste
Bengaluru, Dec 6: Goolihatti D Shekar, a former Karnataka MLA from Hosadurga constituency, has alleged that because he was a Dalit he was denied entry into the RSS Founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar Museum in Nagpur. The RSS denied his claim, calling it baseless.
In an audio message addressed to BJP national general secretary B L Santhosh, Shekar claimed that he had visited the RSS headquarters in Nagpur three to four months ago with two others. On a visit to the Hedgewar museum there, someone at the entrance gate asked him to write his name and address on the visitors' register.
"I wrote my name and was about to step in when the man standing there asked, 'Sir, if you don't mind, are you from the reserved category', which means whether I am from the scheduled caste. When I said, 'yes' they said they don't allow SC (people)," Shekar alleged.
Shekar, a former Minister, had quit BJP and contested the May 2023 assembly election from Hosadurga constituency in Chitradurga district as an independent after the party denied him a ticket. B G Govindappa from Congress won the election while Shekar came fourth.
The Karnataka chapter of the RSS rejected his charge saying that there is no register in any office of the outfit anywhere as anyone can
walk anywhere in the RSS headquarters.
In a statement, it said:" Goolihatti Shekar who has said that the incident happened at least four months before the assembly election, met several RSS leaders after that but never told them about the 'insult' meted out to him. It is surprising that he is issuing a statement 10 months after the incident."
It further said the RSS welcomes everyone with an open mindset.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
