Pramod Muthalik

Pramod Muthalik
Organisation (Sri Rama Sene) head
Born	1963 Hukkeri, Belgaum, Karnataka, India
Other names	Pramod Muthalic
Occupation	Politician
Known for	Founder of Sri Ram Sena, Rashtriya Hindu Sena
Religion	Hindu
Spouse(s)	Never Married

Pramod Muthalik (born 1963) is the chief of the Rashtriya Hindu Sena, the parent organization of the Sri Ram Sena.^[1] He was born in 1963 to a Marathi family in Hukkeri in the Belgaum district of Karnataka, close to the border with Maharashtra.^[2][3]

After the 2009 Mangalore pub attack, where women were beaten (because, according to the attackers, the women were indulging in anti-cultural acts), Pramod Muthalik said: Citing traditional values of India, "Girls going to pubs is not acceptable." But the way they opted to protest was controversial. He also said, "you are highlighting this small incident to malign the BJP government in the state, keeping in mind a case where media and ministers kept mum against beating of Saba, a Pakistani girl, by group of Muslim women for tattooing holy koranic words on her back."^[4] He asked why the media and government are silent for Bangladeshi illegal infiltrators and why more than 400 children are missing in city Delhi alone during 441 day period.^[5]

"If the Hindu girls are exploited by the members of other religions, double the number of girls from other religions will also be targeted,” he announced.^[6] He said this in light of the fact that missing of Hindu girls has become common in Mangalore. They are later found in Islamic seminaries in Kerala's Kozhikode which have been involved in the recruitment of women cadre for jihad, especially after 26/11.^[7]

Aged 13, he joined the RSS in 1975. In 2004, he become the convenor for South India for the Bajrang Dal. During this time, he helped the BJP in the assembly polls, especially in north Karnataka which soon became the party’s stronghold.

Stating that he wanted a political platform to advance the objectives of Hindutva, he joined the Shiv Sena on August 28, 2005. 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 and the Bharatiya Janata Party. This marked the formation of the Shiv Sena in Karnataka.^[2]

Muthalik quit the Sena in 2006 after the party revived its demand for the merger of the Marathi speaking areas like Belgaum with Maharashtra.^[3] He then formed the Rashtriya Hindu Sena.^[8]

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. 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.^[1] A look at the chargesheet makes it clear that he has never been arrested for any of these cases.^[9][10]

On February 19, 2000, Muthalik spoke at Malebennur in Harihar taluk of Davanagere 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. Two years later, the district magistrate banned his entry into Malebennur and surrounding areas.^[1]

On January 10, 2002, he was banned from entering the Bailhongal taluk in relation to communal incidents in Kittur. The ban also included fellow Bajrang Dal leaders Vilas Pawar and Manoj Hanagal.^[11]

Muthalik is an admirer of the Hindu radical Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. He regularly attends an annual function in Pune to mark the death anniversary of Godse.^[3]

References