A week after BJP MLA Harish Poonja delivered an Islamophobic speech at an event in a temple at Thekkaru, located in the communally sensitive Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, the temple management issued a letter to the village’s Muslim community, expressing regret over the legislator’s remarks.
A political storm erupted in Rajasthan after senior BJP leader and former MLA Gyandev Ahuja performed a “purification” ritual at a temple in Alwar, shortly after the visit of Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully, who belongs to the Dalit community.
At least 154 people were injured, eight of them grievously, when fireworks exploded during a festival at Anjootambalam Veerakavu temple near Neeleswaram in Kasaragod district on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
The right-wing Hindu organisation, Vishva Hindu Parishad, on Tuesday, announced a campaign to free temples across the country from "government control," claiming that the government's takeover of temples reflects the mindset of "Muslim invaders" and "colonial" British.
If the Bharatiya Janata Party looks for a temple in every mosque then people would soon start searching for a Buddhist monastery in every temple, said Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya.