In Delhi meeting, Muthalik plans his ?Hindu agenda?

Pramod Muthalik, founder of the Sri Ram Sene that attacked women in a Mangalore pub in January this year, was in New Delhi on Saturday. He addressed ?over a hundred delegates? of Hindu organisations at a meeting held at an ?ashram? in Paharganj, near the New Delhi railway station, before slipping out of the capital on Sunday.

Muthalik, who has earned notoriety for attacking pubs, vandalising churches, and making inflammatory speeches across Karnataka, held forth on his ?Hindu agenda? before his audience ? a gathering of representatives from fringe organisations having past associations with the RSS, and in some cases, the BJP?s student arm, the ABVP.

While Muthalik has addressed meetings in the southern states and Maharashtra in the past, this was his first foray in the national capital.

Deputy commissioner of police (central district) Jaspal Singh ? in whose jurisdiction the venue for Muthalik?s meeting lies ?said ?he was not aware of Muthalik?s presence in Delhi?.

Karnataka home minister V S Acharya said, ?Muthalik is facing around 40 cases in the state. But I don?t know why he went to Delhi?.

The ?delegates? who attended the meeting at Muthalik?s invitation, provided some details of what transpired.

Muthalik is said to have told them: ?Pubs, Valentine?s Day, and universities will stay high on our priority list. We now need to focus on the plight of the Hindus in countries like Sri Lanka and Malaysia as well. We have constituted a 15-member body to coordinate activities across the country.?

Rajeev Chauhan, who claims to have headed the student?s union at Meerut?s Chaudhary Charan Singh University as an ABVP leader in 2004 and now runs an organisation called Hindu Yuva Samkalp, said: ?After this fruitful meeting, we now need to fan out to universities and make sure that women students adhere to a dress code. Else they would continue to be waylaid by youth of other communities.?

Sri Ram Sene?s Vilas Pawar, who is also a deputy to Muthalik, said: ?There are leaders like Indresh in the RSS who have now taken to appeasing Muslims by launching a forum like the Rashtriya Muslim Manch. We need to resist such tendencies, and fight for the Hindu cause.?

Around 12 organisations turned up for the meeting, it is learnt. These organisations go by names like Hindu Sanskriti Manch, Hindu People?s Party, Dara Sena, Hindu Yuva Sena, Raudra Sena, Hindu Makkal Katchi and Abhinav Bharat Manch.

Muthalik was present in Delhi on Saturday, the first day of the two-day meeting. He returned to Bangalore on Sunday to report to the police in one of the many cases he faces in the state. The meeting concluded on Sunday.