Yeddyurappa covering up Sangh Parivar misdeeds: Gowda

New Delhi, Oct 16 (UNI) Terming the speech of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa at the recently-concluded meeting of the National Integration Council as 'insensitive, misleading and mischievous', Janata Dal (Secular) president H D Deve Gowda today said it was unfortunate that the CM had sought to cover the misdeeds of his ideological fellow beings by raking up the menace of terrorism.

In a statement, Mr Gowda said it was ''unbecoming'' on the part of the Chief Minister who has the responsibility of protecting the fundamental rights of all citizens to freely express what he had said at the NIC. He has sought to deflect the attention from the ''barbaric violence'' unleashed by the Sangh Parivar outfits against minority groups by highlighting the menace of terror, the former Prime Minister said.

''We want to know if Mr Yeddyurappa considered 'forcible conversion' of minorities in Kandhamal district when he speaks of ban on forcible conversions?'' Mr Gowda asked.

He said he had seen the men and women in the riot-affected areas getting tonsured and forced to drink cow dung laced water as a penance for embracing Christianity.

Mr Gowda said Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had unhesitatingly named Bajrang Dal as a 'fundamentalist outfit' and two of its activists were killed while making bombs in Kanpur in August. ''I don't wish to recount their role in Gujarat riots in 2002 or that of Dara Singh in Orissa in 1999. Are these terror incidents where minority groups are allegedly involved?'' he asked.

Defending the Centre's Advisory under Article 355 of the Constitution, Mr Gowda said the Government should have been dismissed using Article 356 for 'breakdown of the state machinery' rather than using the piecemeal approach.

Asking Mr Yeddyurappa to appoint a sitting Judge to probe such violence, he said the government should pay adequate compensation to the victims. The Centre should ban anti-social and anti-national organisations like Sri Ram Sena to preserve unity and integrity of the nation, he urged.

Mr Gowda asked his partymen to observe 'Sauharda Samavesha' during Deepavali and Rajyotsava festival in Karnataka to highlight protests against the attacks on the minority community.

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