Pramod Muthalik
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Pramod Muthalik (born 1963) is the chief of the
Rashtriya Hindu Sena The Shree Ram Sena (), or Shree Ram Sena, is a right-wing Hindutva group founded & headed by Pramod Muthalik. It has received media attention for its acts of moral police, moral policing, including the 2009 Mangalore pub attack. Ideology The S ...
, the parent organisation of the Sri Ram Sena. A
Bajrang Dal Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was foun ...
member in his early life, he formed the
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
unit of the
Shiv Sena Shiv Sena (1966–2022) (; ; SS) was a right-wing Marathi regionalist Hindutva-based political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who was later succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray. The party is split into two parties: the Uddha ...
after being expelled from Bajrang Dal. He quit Shiv Sena over the Belgaum border dispute, and then formed Sri Ram Sena. He gained media attention when around 40 activists of the Ram Sena barged into a Mangalore pub and attacked young men and women, insisting that these people were violating the traditional Indian values. The
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
(BJP) state government banned him from entering Mangalore, following which he campaigned against the party in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. In March 2014, he joined the
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
unit of BJP, but was forced to quit within hours due to widespread criticism and protests from other members. He contested the
2014 Lok Sabha elections General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...
as an Independent Candidate from
Bangalore South Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
and
Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the northwestern part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merged ...
constituencies in Karnataka, but lost both.


Hindutva activism

Muthalik was born in 1963 to a
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
family in
Hukkeri Hukkeri is a Town Municipal Council and taluka in Belagavi district, Belgavi district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Karnataka. Geography Hukkeri is located at . Hukkeri is a Town Municipal Council and a taluka in Bel ...
in the
Belgaum Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...
district of
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
.A fast mover, peddling his brand of Hindutva
Hindustan Times
He joined the
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in 1975. In 2004, he became the convenor for
South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
for the
Bajrang Dal Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was foun ...
. The cases are relating to making inflammatory speeches, inciting hatred between religious groups, conducting training with intent to carry out violence. Pramod Multhalik has over 45 cases pending against him, and is wanted by the police in 11 districts of
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
. Most of these cases are still under investigation and relate to subversive activities, defiling religious books, unlawful assembly, violating prohibitory orders, and evading judicial warrants. Most were filed between the years 2000 and 2008. On 19 February 2000, Muthalik spoke at Malebennur in Harihar taluk of
Davanagere Dāvanagere is a city in the centre of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the seventh largest city in the state, and the administrative headquarters of eponymous Davangere district. Hitherto being a cotton hub and hence popularly kno ...
district. He remarked at minority communities and questioned their loyalty to the nation. The Harihar police filed a case under Section 153A of the
Indian Penal Code The Indian Penal Code (IPC) was the official criminal code of the Republic of India, inherited from British India after independence. It remained in force until it was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in December 2023 ...
. Two years later, the district magistrate banned his entry into Malebennur and surrounding areas. On 10 January 2002, he was banned from entering the
Bailhongal Bailhongal or Bailahongala is a town, Taluk and one of the three Subdivisional headquarters in Belagavi district of Karnataka state in southern India. The taluk headquarters is about 44 km from the district headquarters. There are importan ...
taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...
in relation to communal incidents in
Kittur Kittur or Kitturu, historically known as Kittoor, is a town and a taluk in the Belagavi district of the Indian state of Karnataka. It was part of Bailhongal taluka but was declared as an independent taluka on 23October 2012 by the Chief Minist ...
. The ban also included fellow
Bajrang Dal Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was foun ...
leaders Vilas Pawar and Manoj Hanagal. Muthalik is an admirer of
Nathuram Godse Nathuram Vinayak Godse (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949) () was an Indian Hindu nationalist and political activist who was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. He shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point blank range at a multi-faith praye ...
, who assassinated
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
and regularly attends an annual function in Pune to mark the death anniversary of Godse. In 2022, he called for the economic boycott of Muslims following the 2022 Karnataka hijab row.


Shiv Sena

In 2005, Muthalik was expelled from Bajrang Dal. Subsequently, in August 2005, he set up the
Shiv Sena Shiv Sena (1966–2022) (; ; SS) was a right-wing Marathi regionalist Hindutva-based political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who was later succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray. The party is split into two parties: the Uddha ...
's Karnataka unit, stating that he wanted a political platform to advance the objectives of
Hindutva Hindutva (; ) is a Far-right politics, far-right political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Da ...
. He was accompanied by the former district president of the Bajrang Dal for Belgaum, Vilas Pawar, and some 5,000 workers belonging to the Bajrang Dal, the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organisation based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to orga ...
and the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
. This marked the formation of the Shiv Sena in Karnataka. Muthalik quit the Sena in 2006 after the party revived its demand for the merger of the supposed claimed Marathi speaking areas in Karnataka like those in Belgaum, Uttara Kannada and Bidar district with Maharashtra. He then formed the Rashtriya Hindu Sena.NDTV.com: What is Sri Ram Sena?


Sri Ram Sena

After quitting
Shiv Sena Shiv Sena (1966–2022) (; ; SS) was a right-wing Marathi regionalist Hindutva-based political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who was later succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray. The party is split into two parties: the Uddha ...
, Muthalik established Sri Ram Sena in 2006. In 2009, the Ram Sena men led an attack on a Mangalore pub, where women were beaten. Muthalik defended the attack saying that girls going to pub was against Indian culture. He also questioned the media and the government on their silence on the illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators. Following the attack, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government banned him from entering Mangalore. In response, he campaigned against BJP in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, calling it "corrupt and anti-Hindu", but refused to contest the polls himself. In 2014, he joined the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
(BJP) Karnataka state unit, but was forced to exit in hours after protests from other members. After Goa's Chief Minister
Manohar Parrikar Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar (13 December 1955 – 17 March 2019) was an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party who was the Chief Minister of Goa for three terms. He also served as the Union Minister of Defence ...
banned his entry to the state, he said "BJP has become a Bharatiya Jesus Party". In 2018, he along with 24 others were acquitted by the court from the charges related to
2009 Mangalore pub attack On 24 January 2009, the Sri Ram Sena attacked a group of young women and men in a pub in Mangalore, India. A group of 40 activists of the Sri Rama Sena barged into the pub "Amnesia – The Lounge" and beat up a group of young women and men ...
.


Hate Speeches


2015

* Pramod Muthalik on October 10, 2015, in Hyderabad asked all Hindus to keep swords in their houses for "self protection" and to protect "our sister".


2017

* Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Muthalik on October 8 urged Hindus to stop business with Muslims and to economically boycott them. He said, “Muslims are opposing the construction of Rama Mandir at Ayodhya. They are also opposing the anti-cow slaughter bill. They don’t want to sing Vande Mataram. Until they stop opposing these, Hindus should stop economic activities with them,” he said during the Matr Pooja celebration in Mangaluru on Sunday.


2018

* Pramod Muthalik compared late
Gauri Lankesh Gauri Lankesh (29 January 1962 – 5 September 2017) was an Indian activist and journalist from Bangalore, Karnataka. She worked as an editor in ''Lankesh Patrike'', a Kannada weekly started by her father P. Lankesh, and ran her own weekly call ...
to a dog. On June 17, he said-"Two murders took place in Karnataka and two in Maharashtra in Congress rule. No one questioned Congress govt failure. Instead, they are asking why is PM Modi silent and not speaking on Gauri Lankesh’s death. Is Modi responsible even if any dog dies in Karnataka?"


2022

* On 26 April 2022, Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik while delivering a speech at an event in Bagalkot in Karnataka warned - "Not just in Karnataka, but in any corner of the country -- on
Ram Navami Rama Navami () is a Hindus, Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Ram, Rama, one of the most popularly revered deities in Hinduism, also known as the seventh avatar of Vishnu. He is often held as an emblem within Hinduism for being a ...
,
Hanuman Jayanti Hanuman Jayanti (), also called Hanuman Janmotsav, is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of the Hindu deity, and one of the protagonists of the ''Ramayana'' and its many versions, Hanuman. The celebration of Hanuman Jayanti varies by tim ...
,
Ganesh Chaturthi Ganesh Chaturthi (ISO: ), also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi () or Vinayaka Chavithi () or Vinayagar Chaturthi (), is a Hindu festival celebrating the birthday of Hindu deity Ganesh. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's ''m ...
or on any festival -- if one stone is pelted, then 1,000 stones will be pelted on Muslims. God has also given us two hands, be warned," * Pramod Muthalik on May 28 said in Karnataka, "We will take back all 30,000 temples which were demolished to build masjids. Stop us if you have the guts. You people warned of bloodshed during
demolition of Babri Masjid The Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya, was destroyed on 6 December 1992 by a large group of activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied organisations. The mosque had been the subject of a lengthy socio- ...
. What happened to that? You couldn't take even a single drop of blood of Hindus." * Pramod Muthalik on August 23,2022 had warned his workers will chop off the hands of those who try to put down the Hindutva ideologue’s posters. “If you touch Savarkar's poster, we will chop your hands off and throw it away. It’s a warning,”.


2023

* Addressing a Hindu convention on the occasion of Swami Vivekananda Jayanti at Yadravi town on January 12, he said that the sword should be displayed at homes in such a way that it can be clearly visible to all those who visit them. Stating that police officials will not lodge any complaint if a sword is kept at home, he said that exhibiting the weapon is not meant to kill anyone, but to protect the women. * Speaking at a public event in Karnataka’s Bagalkote, Muthalik said, “We are aware of the situation. I would like to invite the youth here. If we lose one Hindu girl, we should trap 10 Muslim girls. If you do so, Shri Ram Sena will take responsibility for you and provide every kind of security and employment.” * On March 3, Controversial chief Sri Rama Sene in Karnataka Pramod Muthalik has slammed the BJP leaders in the state for seeking votes in the name of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
. Ahead of the upcoming Karnataka assembly election, Muthalik, who was in Karwar, asked people to beat leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party with slippers if they take Modi's name during the door-to-door campaign.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muthalik, Pramod Hindutva Indian far-right politicians Living people 1963 births People from Belgaum Hate speech Bajrang Dal members Shiv Sena politicians