After order banning events on government land in Karnataka without approval, permission denied for rallies by RSS, Bhim Army at Chittapur

The order defined ‘government property’ as any land, building, structure, road, park, playground, waterbody or any other immovable property owned and managed by a local authority or department, boards or corporations.

As per the Government Order (GO), any organisation seeking permission for holding programs must first approach jurisdictional revenue and police department officials. Also, any organisation planning an event on government land has to apply three days before the program.

“If the applicant meets the requisitions and instructions of the Competent authority then the application shall be disposed off at least a day prior to the intended programme or procession by issuing a written order after providing reasonable opportunity of hearing to the applicant,” the GO stated.

Any program or procession held in contravention of the order will be considered as unlawful under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and the local police shall register a suo motu case. The order noted that detailed guidelines will be issued by respective departments regarding the use of public spaces owned by them.

The controversy over the order, interpreted as a means to rein in RSS activities in the state, spiked after permission was denied to the organisation to hold a route march at Chittapur, Kalaburagi district. Permission was also denied to the Bhim Army, which also planned an event to counter the march. The proposed rallies by both organisations were scheduled for Sunday.

Chittapur tahsildar rejected permission for the RSS march, stating that the organisation had not sought prior permission nor provided details on the number of attendees for the program. “You have not provided details of lathis and other weapons. You have not submitted registration documents of your organisation,” the tahsildar said, adding that the application for the march will be reviewed once the details sought by the authorities are furnished.

The Karnataka BJP lashed out at the decision, saying that the party would protest the decision across the state. BJP state president B Y Vijayendra said the state government was planning to impose ‘Emergency-style’ administration and had made Chittapur its laboratory.

“The denial of permission for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s centenary celebrations on the grounds that 12 pieces of information and documents were not submitted through the Tahsildar reminds one of the arbitrary, dictatorial style of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un,” he said in a post on X Sunday.

If the conditions imposed for granting permission to RSS processions and programs are applied across the state, it would become impossible to conduct any cultural or patriotic programs in any corner of Karnataka, Vijayendra said, adding that a battle between authoritarian rule and democracy has begun at Chittapur.

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