DHARWAD — A fresh controversy has erupted on Friday in Karnataka over the recital of the Quran at a government programme in Dharwad city.
In retaliation to recitation of Quran, the BJP leaders performed Hindu rituals.
The BJP workers gathered in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office in Dharwad, where they recited Rudra mantras and the vachanas of Lord Basavanna.
They also conducted a ‘havan’, a Hindu fire ritual involving offerings into the sacred fire to purify the environment and invoke positive energy.
It has been reported that the Quran recitation was carried out during a felicitation programme held after the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Hubballi Electricity Supply Company (Hescom) project.
However, Congress Corporator Mangala Gowri and her son Nagaraj Gowri, who organised the programme, said that it was not a government event.
The Congress leaders, rejecting the allegation, said that the Quran recitation took place only during the felicitation programme, which was a private event organised by them.
According to them, the official government programme was limited solely to the foundation stone-laying ceremony. –IANS
