A massive rally of local residents was held in Kanakapura town of Ramanagara district in Karnataka Monday to oppose the building of a Jesus Christ statue by missionaries.
The area’s MLA, Congress leader D K Shivakumar, involved in “appeasement politics” by laying the foundation stone for the 114-foot statue on Christmas 2019. The statue is to be built in Kapalabetta hill in Harobele village.
“The people here do not want a Christ statue. Instead, they want to erect a statue of Pejawar Swami, Basaveshwara, Balagangadharanatha Swami or someone else who has contributed for this region and nation.
People of Karnataka criticising Shivakumar, saying that “This statue is being built only to appease his party leader Sonia Gandhi.
RSS Leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat addressing protesters during the rally held in Kanakapura on Monday.
The rally began from Ayyappa Swamy Temple and concluded with a public meeting in front of the Ashoka Pillar in Channabasappa Circle in the town.
BJP spokesperson and former MLC Ashwath Narayan Gowda said his party supported the rally to protest alleged “forced conversions.”
He said, “The Bande brothers — Shivakumar and D K Suresh, Bangalore Rural Congress Lok Sabha MP — have now become Vatican brothers and are supporting plans of forced conversion of Hindus in the area to Christianity. Granting land to erect a Christ statue where Hindu gods were worshipped for years in itself proves their motive.”.
However, an investigation has been initiated into the Jesus statue by revenue minister R Ashoka.
