Mangaluru: With most of the accused in the infamous Mangaluru pub attack walking free, actor Prakash Raj has said that the Congress party too should be blamed for the same.
Addressing an interaction programme in Mangaluru press club on Wednesday, Raj said that it was Congress’ duty to make sure that the issue was taken up strongly because they have been claiming to stand against communal force.
“I am not with or against any party. But having said that I must admit that I am against BJP’s communal agenda. Communalism is much bigger a cancer than corruption. No religion preaches violence, but political parties have been using religion as an issue to spark violence. At this juncture of time, it is imperative to vote for merits of a candidate rather than the party. I will not be in active politics but I will be active in questioning the political situations in the country, ” he said adding that he has started ‘Just Asking’ campaign in Karnataka to make the political parties accountable.
In this country, the ruling government is making effort to silence voice of the citizens, he said adding that a common man should not be afraid of expressing himself or demanding answers from the government . People’s opinions may differ but it should not be the reason for unwanted criticism.
Deeming the farmers’ protest in Maharashtra as a model for all, Raj said it is necessary that a political party ceases to be a party and graduates to being a government on tasting electoral victory. “When Gauri Lankesh was murdered I was shaken. I was dejected when I saw people rejoicing over her killing. Had these two incidents not happened, I would have never asked for answers this actively and openly, ” he said adding that mere nabbing of the culprit is not enough, there is need to analyse the ideology behind the murder. Raj also said that there are attempts in Mangaluru specifically to track his movements, which is a scary development. “But, let me tell you, I am not scared by these developments. These moves only rage me more, ” he said as he narrated how four miscreants threatened his driver to know details of his stay, last night at Mangaluru airport. “When popular artists are being threatened we can wonder the plight of the common people,” he said.
