Punjab court summons Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over speech comparing Bajrang Dal with PFI

New Delhi: The ban on Bajrang Dal in Congress manifesto in the Karnataka elections that Prime Minister Modi turned into the ban on Bajrang Bali (Lord Hanuman), continues to push a ₹100-crore defamation suit in Sangrur district of Punjab against Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, accusing him of defaming Lord Hanuman.

The summon was issued by the court in Sangrur district on May 12 on a petition filed by Hindu Suraksha Parishad national president Hitesh Bhardwaj. The date for filing of reply to the notice has been fixed for July 10.

Bajrang Dal and Lord Hanuman not the same

While the Rashtgriya Sewak Sangh seems to be interested in keeping the issue alive with the objective of projecting the Congress as an anti-Hindu party, the court will need to make a distinction between Bajrang Dal and Lord Hanuman as the two are not the same.

Bajrang Dal is an outfit that claims to defend interests of Hindus while in fact it acts like a vigilante group intervening in Hindu-Muslim issue taking law and order in its hands. In many instances, Bajrang Dal has been found guilty in many criminal cases.

Manifesto comparison led to legal action

“That the respondent issued an election manifesto before the state of Karnataka for the elections. In the said manifesto, at para number 10, the defendant issued defamatory statements against the Bajrang Dal, a unit of the Hindu Suraksha Parishad, by declaring to ban the organisation and comparing it to outlawed organisations like the Popular Front of India (PFI)...,” the petitioner has submitted.

Naming the Bajrang Dal, the Congress in its manifesto promised to ban organisations that promote "enmity or hatred, whether among majority or minority communities".