Pravin Togadia incident: Hindutva leaders living in fear under BJP rule, says Shiv Sena

VHP leader Pravin Togadia has alleged that the BJP had tried to silence him about issues such as Ram mandir, law on cow slaughter

Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena on Thursday said pro-Hindutva leaders are now living in fear in the country that is ruled by a pro-Hindutva party.

VHP leader Pravin Togadia had gone “missing” on Monday and emerged from a private hospital nearly 12 hours later in a reportedly unconscious state. (HT FILE)

In an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana, the Sena took on the BJP after Vishwa Hindu Parishad working president Pravin Togadia alleged that the BJP has made efforts to silence him over issues such as the Ram Temple, welfare schemes for farmers and law on cow slaughter.

Togadia went missing briefly on January 15 in Ahmedabad and was later found unconscious. He then told reporters that he went into hiding as he feared the police would kill him in an encounter. “I am being targeted for a decade-old case, there is an attempt to suppress my voice. Rajasthan police team came to arrest me. Someone told me a plan was being made to kill me in an encounter,” Togadia had said.

“Such tactics of removing an unwanted person were prevalent under the Communist regimes in Russia and China. During Emergency, political opponents were paralysed by the government, but it seems that pro-Hindutva leaders are living in fear today. (Narendra) Modi and (Amit) Shah must come forward and clarify this,” the editorial in the Marathi daily said. It added that since the “new regime” of Shah and Modi has taken office, voices of leaders such as LK Advani have been silenced. “If this is fear or silence, it is a question worth pondering over,” it said.