‘Attack on youngsters by Hindutva group has brought bad name to Hinduism’

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Aug 4, 2012: Dharmadhikari of Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade said on Friday that agitation would have been a better way of highlighting immoral activities, if any, at Morning Mist Home Stay here on July 28.

The attack by Hindutva groups on those partying there had brought a bad name to Hinduism, he said. Mr. Heggade was presiding over a workshop for teachers on moral education and yoga organised by the Department of Public Instruction and Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala’s Shantivana Trust.

“Arunodaya” and “Kiranodaya”, books on moral education for primary and secondary school children, were released.

“We strive to earn name. But these groups, by their (mis)deeds, have made the world laugh at us,” Mr. Heggade said.

“These groups should have staged a demonstration. This would have brought to light the activities inside that home-stay, of which we do not know much. (With such an attack) We have now come to support the victims,” he said.

Disagreeing with the vigilante group’s way of instilling Indian culture, Mr. Heggade said: “You cannot force a change. We can only show the right path … they (youngsters) should be made known of what is bad.”

He said that a right platform should be created to prevent degeneration of Indian culture.

The incident, Mr. Heggade said, had also made the task of educational institutions difficult.

“We can lock the gate of hostels by 10 p.m. and take disciplinary action against those who consume alcohol. But parents will question the morality of enforcing such a rule,” he said.

He referred to three of the six inebriated students of a college who were killed in an accident recently after the hostel authorities refused them entry as they came after 10 p.m.

“If the authorities had relaxed their rules and allowed entry, their lives could have been saved,” he said.

Support

Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, who supported Hindutva activists, said that students were indeed taking part in a “rave” party held in the guise of a birthday party (the police, however, have gone on record saying that no drugs were found). This showed the loss of moral values among students, he said.

Courtesy: The Hindu