Chop off hands that touch Hindu girls: Ananth Kumar Hegde tells Hindutva outfits

Somwarpet, Jan 27: Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde, who is known for controversial statements, yet again sparked a row on Sunday after he explained how to keep “Hindu girls safe.” Hegde said that the hands which “touch” Hindu girls, should be “chopped off” and “cease to exist.”

The BJP leader was speaking at the inauguration of a temple at Kallukore of Madapura in communally sensitive Somwarpet taluk. The temple was damaged during the recent natural calamity.

In a contentious statement, Hegde said, “There should be a fundamental shift in our thinking. We should keenly observe what's happening around us. Regardless of caste and religion, a hand that touches a Hindu girl should not exist. History is written like that.”

Meanwhile, during his speech on Sunday, Hegde also claimed that the Taj Mahal in Agra was not built by Muslims and that it was a "Shiv mandir called Tejo Mahalaya." He said, "Taj Mahal was not built by Muslims. It's definitely not built by Muslims, the history speaks for it. Shah Jahan in his autobiography has said he bought this palace from King Jayasimha. It's a Shiv mandir built by King Paramatheertha, Tejo Mahalaya. Tejo Mahalaya became Taj Mahal. If we keep sleeping, most of our houses also will be named manzil. In future, Lord Ram will be called jahanpana and Sita will become bibi."

On the other hand, Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao slammed Hegde for his controversial remarks, calling them “deplorable.” Gundu Rao tweeted, “Wht are ur achievements after becoming a Union Minister or as MP? Wht are ur contributions for Karnataka's development? All I can say for sure, it's deplorable tht such people have become ministers & have managed to get elected as MP's.(sic)”

In the past as well, Hegde has waded into controversies after making inappropriate statements on sensitive issues. Earlier this month, the Union Minister had claimed that the handling of the Sabarimala issue by the Kerala government was the "daylight rape" of Hindus.

Last year, Hegde's statement had lowered the political discourse in Karnataka after he compared members of the Opposition parties to animals such as "crows, monkeys, foxes, and donkeys", slamming them for "coming together" to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming elections.

In 2017, he had generated a sparked off a massive debate after criticising the word "secular" and claiming that the BJP government would "amend the Constitution" to remove the word from the Constitution's Preamble. “Seculars do not know what their blood is. Yes Constitution has given that right to say 'we are secular' but Constitution has been amended many times, we will also amend it. We have come to power for that,” Hegde had said.