Hassan DC bars VHP leader from entering district, BJP likens decision to Emergency-era crackdown

“Sharan Pumpwell, who is inspired by right-wing ideology, has a tendency to make provocative speeches,” the order said, noting that his speeches create communal tensions.

Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra, who tweeted the deputy commissioner’s order on X, said the state government’s decision was one of ‘extreme cowardice’. “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s repressive policies trampling upon the religious freedom and freedom of speech of Hindus evoke memories of the Emergency era,” he said.

A police notice was also served to BJP leader Vikas Puttur prior to his participation in a Hindu Samajotsava event at Tarikere, Chikkamagaluru district, on Saturday. The notice advised him to ensure that provisions of the Anti-Hate Speech Bill – passed by the state legislature but awaiting the Governor’s assent – were not violated, failing which “suitable legal action will be initiated”.

It also asked him to ensure that feelings of other communities are not hurt during his address, and his speech should not provoke hate or attack against any groups.

Leader of Opposition R Ashoka stepped to Puttur’s defence, asking whether Karnataka was “a democracy or a police state?”. Highlighting that the Bill was yet to be notified, he said that if the police were threatening Opposition workers by citing a Bill that hasn’t even been officially implemented yet, “it is clear evidence of how police stations in the state have transformed into Congress party offices.”

He alleged that the Congress was prejudiced against Hindus in the state.