Hindutva has its roots in casteism'

He was speaking after inaugurating the 'Unity Convention' organized by Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike (KKSV) in Mangalore on Saturday as part of its decennial celebrations.

“The RSS took birth in 1920s which was also the time when Dalit movement was gaining momentum. Nagpur was a centre of Dalit movement then and the RSS too has its headquarters in Nagpur which tells you the connection the two had in history. RSS was formed to weaken the Dalit struggle. Caste factor has also been responsible for the religious communalism of the RSS. Why doesn't the RSS hate Parsis although they too are non-Hindu? The RSS hates Muslims and Christians because majority of them who accepted Islam and Christianity were people from the lower castes”, he said.

Shedding light on the 'terrorism' debate, Mr. Teltumbe said that not too long ago every other bomb blast was blamed on Islamic outfits. But incidents such as the Malegaon blast and Hemanth Karkare episode have brought to light the 'Hindutva' terror.

“BJP and the Sangh Parivar latched on to the 'war on terror' model of United States which it deployed to attack Afghanistan in the pretext of the 9/11 bombings which was a self-engineered act. Terror attacks in India would be blamed on forces operating from Pakistan but there was the RSS terror operation taking place behind the veils. The state has always covered it up. Unfortunately, there are many innocent Muslim youth still languishing in jails on terror charges”, he said.

Mr. Teltumbe also said that 'Hindutva' is not to be identified with the BJP alone. “The Congress has also been communal. It has been following casteist and communal politics right from its birth”, he said.

Renowned activists Teesta Setalvad and Gowri Lankesh also participated in the convention besides other activists and KKSV members such as K L Ashok, K Phaniraj and Suresh Bhat Bakrabail.

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