Bangalore, March 5 (IANS) Dharma Raksha Vedike (DRV), a sister organisation of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), will hold a series of rallies across Karnataka next week to protect Hindu religion, a representative of the right wing group said Thursday.
“The first rally will be held in Bangalore March 8, followed by two more rallies in Mysore and Mangalore next week. The objectives of the rallies are to draw the government’s attention to ban conversions and cow slaughter,” DRV convenor Keshav Hegde told reporters here.
“We also want a check on Islamic terrorism and infiltration from Bangladesh, imposition of a common civil code, building a Ram temple at Ayodhya and stop aping western culture,” he said.
Denying that the proposed rallies were being held as a surrogate poll campaign in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the upcoming parliamentary polls, Hegde said the rallies were purely religious in nature and his organisation would support any political party that would incorporate its demands in its election manifesto.
“Similar rallies will also be held in 10 districts and 100 sub-districts across Karnataka. Pejawar Math seer Vishwesha Tirtha Swamji will address the rallies, as his participation assumes significance in view of his statement that all Hindus should vote for a single party,” Hegde pointed out.