Anant Kumar Hegde calls intellectuals ‘sold-out; hits out at media for criticizing him

Bengaluru, Jun 18: Continuing his tirade against non-communal intellectuals, Anant Kumar Hedge, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, has called them ‘foolish’ and ‘sold-out’.

Speaking at the launch of Kannada version of Vinayak Savarkar’s book Hidutva on Sunday, Hegde reiterated his definition of a secular persons as one who does not know his parents.

“The so-called intellectuals are the embodiment of foolishness. They don’t understand whatever we talk about the greatness of Hindutva, because they have sold their intellect,” he said in his address after releasing the book translated into Kannada by G B Harish.

Turning his ire on media, the minister said it has been the habit of the media to criticise him which to he had got used to.

“Such is the situation that people will be shocked if the media talks good about me. If they are abusing me, it means the situation is normal. Let them abuse me and I will take it as flattery,” Hedge said.

Seeking to highlight the greatness of Hindu religion, he said Hindus worship mythological figures like Rama and Krishna albeit they are not Brahmins. “Not just that, we worship Ganesha who has been born out of the dirt produced by somebody’s sweat. This is the greatness of the Hindu religion which the secular intellectuals can never understand,” he added.