Priyank Kharge Summoned in RSS Defamation Case, Vows Fight and Renews Registration Demand
Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge on Sunday said he would fight a criminal defamation case against him through legal means, asserting that the Constitution and the law are on his side. He also renewed his demand that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) should register itself as an organisation.
His remarks came a day after a Bengaluru court took cognisance of a private complaint alleging that Mr. Kharge and former Karnataka Youth Congress president Mohammed Haris Nalapad made defamatory remarks against the RSS. The court summoned them to appear on July 21.
“We will abide by the law. Our foremost duty is to comply with whatever order the court has issued. Whatever it may be, we are fighting this through legal means. We did not ask those questions casually or irresponsibly,” the Minister told reporters.
Noting that attempts would be made to pressurise them, he said, “All this is natural. They (RSS) will try to exert pressure in every possible way. We will respond to it. When the Constitution and the law are on our side, there is no need to fear anything.”
Citing reported remarks by Vishwaprasanna Tirtha Swami of Pejawar Math, who also had called for the RSS to register itself, Mr. Kharge said, “They won’t listen to me. They won’t listen to you. They won’t listen to the Constitution. At least let them listen to the religious leaders.”
Questioning why the RSS had not registered itself, he said, “Once they get registered, the issue will be over. It will put a stop to all those who go around making statements indiscriminately. Why is the world’s largest organisation still not registered?”
“Where are its donations coming from? Who is maintaining the accounts? Who is benefiting from it and who is losing because of it? All of that should become known,” he added.
Backing Mr. Kharge, Karnataka Congress president B.K. Hariprasad said the RSS should first register itself if it welcomed criminal proceedings against the Minister. “Anyone who respects the law of the land — if the RSS is happy that a case has been registered against Priyank, then they must first get their own organisation registered. Double standards will not work,” Mr. Hariprasad said.
Stressing that the RSS should function within the framework of the law, he said the Congress and its leaders would present their case in court in the manner they deemed appropriate.
Rejecting suggestions that Mr. Kharge was being singled out, Mr. Hariprasad alleged that the RSS had historically targeted those who believed in the Constitution and secular values. “No one is being targeted. The RSS even targeted Mahatma Gandhi. Whoever believes in the Constitution, whoever respects the Tricolour, and whoever upholds secular principles is targeted by them. This is nothing new. The RSS has always targeted those who stood against the British. They themselves were on the side of the British,” he alleged.
On Saturday, an Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate court directed registration of a criminal defamation case against Mr. Kharge and Nalapad on a private complaint filed by RSS member Tejas A, while dropping proceedings against former Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao. The complaint alleged that the Congress leaders made defamatory remarks against the RSS through public statements and social media posts.
