In a clip that circulated on social media, the MLA was heard questioning the organising committee members for inviting Muslims for the temple event.

An apology has come from the Gopalakrishna Temple Trust in Tekkar village of Belthangady taluk in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district, to Muslims who were hurt by the alleged hate speech made by Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja during a temple programme on May 3, The Hindu reported.
Poonja, an MLA of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had reportedly delivered a provocative speech during the temple’s Brahmakalashotsava function in which he allegedly blamed a section of the Muslims for damaging some tube lights put up by the organising committee of the event.
In a clip that circulated on social media, the MLA was heard questioning the organising committee members for inviting Muslims for the event.
According to a report by The Indian Express, speaking in Tulu, he said, “What was the need for us to go to the mosque and give an invitation?… We are Hindus and should remain so.”
The comments came just days after the coastal Dakshina Kannada district witnessed communal tensions following two murders in Mangaluru.
Multiple complaints were filed against the BJP leader, including by the Muslim Okkoota, who had written to the temple management board expressing unhappiness over the allegations made in the speech.
The Uppinangady police filed a case against Poonja, charging him of making an inflammatory speech under Section 353(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
On May 7, members of the Okkoota met with members of the trust. The trust issued a letter on the same day, apologising to the Muslim community for adverse comments made during the Dharmika Sabha programme, according to The Hindu.
Thanking the community members for their active participation in the Brahmakalashotsava, the trust added that it wanted all communities to continue with living in harmony in the future, the report stated.
On the other hand, Poonja reportedly justified his speech and said he only “awakened the Hindu society” through his words.

Courtesy: The Wire