Sri Rama Sene will be banned if it indulges in illegal activities, says Home Minister

This follows a demand by the Goa unit of the Congress to ban the Hindutva outfit in Karnataka.

The government will look into the demand and decide the course of action if something goes wrong, said Mr George on Friday.

The sene had not indulged in any illegal activity since the Congress government came to power in the State, the Minister said. The government would take action if it indulges in anti-social and illegal activities, he said.

The Goa Congress unit on Thursday sought a ban on the sene in Karnataka for its opposition to “secular” culture and for threatening to close down pubs and night clubs in Goa.

“The Sri Rama Sene should be banned in India, including in Karnataka...,” Goa Congress leader Durgadas Kamat had said.

Recently, sene leader Pramod Muthalik was admitted to the Bharatiya Janata Party, but the decision was reversed within a few hours following public outcry.

BJP central leaders cancelled Mr Muthalik 's party membership after Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar opposed his entry into the party.

Mr Muthalik has challenged both Karnataka BJP unit president Pralhad Joshi and national general secretary Ananth Kumar in the Lok Sabha elections, apparently to “settle a political score”, by filing nomination papers in Dharwad and Bangalore South constituencies. Mr. Joshi is contesting the election in Dharwad and Mr. Kumar in Bangalore South.

Reacting to Mr George 's statement, Mr. Muthalik said that sene leaders had not indulged in any anti-social and anti-national activity. “We are not al-Qaeda or Jaish-e-Mohammad. We are only appealing to people to follow principles of the Hindu religion. What 's wrong in it?” he said.

When asked about the Goa Congress leader 's demand to ban the organisation, Mr. Muthalik said, “We want to open our unit in Panaji.”