Prakash Raj slams BJP for exploiting religion for ‘political advantage’

Mangaluru, Dec 1: Criticising the reported “instruction” of BJP president Amit Shah to its cadre to take political advantage of Sabarimala issue, actor Prakash Raj said here on Saturday that it revealed bad thinking process of the president of a national party.

At the inauguration of two-day Jana Nudi literary convention organised by Abhimata, Mr. Raj, without directly naming the BJP or Mr. Shah, said the issue pertaining to Sabarimala was related to one’s belief. “A president of the party in power at the Centre has made an open statement to his party cadre to make use of the golden opportunity to establish the party in Kerala. This is a bad thinking and we people are silently listening,” he said.

Dharma and its practice, he said, were personal and related to the lifestyle. Dharma does not provide education, give relief from hunger and build a society with scientific temper, he said. “Without understanding this, people are falling prey to those in power,” he said.

Expressing his concern over efforts to erode constitutional bodies, including judiciary, in the country, the former High Court judge H.N. Nagamohan Das said judiciary was being subjected to external pressure and forced to toe the line of extra- constitutional groups. “Take the Ayodhya issue: these groups are dictating the time frame for settlement of the issue and also saying of how the judgment should be,” he said.

There should be serious thinking to counter the move to erode independent functioning of judiciary and of institutions such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate, and the Income Tax department, he said.