Islamophobic Remarks :
Sharan Pumpwell is the militant head of the Hindu extremist group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Mangalore, Karnataka. He is a fanatic of the far-right Hindutva movement.
Pumpwell devotes his entire time and attention to spreading hate and anti-minority propaganda as a devout member of the VHP.
He has a history of crime and is a repeat offender. Pumpwell and 23 others invaded a birthday party in 2011 and stole cash as well as belongings from the attendees. They were arrested for robbery and rioting.
He conducts anti-minority (anti-Muslim) efforts in Mangalore and other regions of the State, actively participating in localized acts of hatred. In January 2023, he sadistically referred to the murder of Muslims in Gujarat as an act of Hindu valour while addressing a sizable gathering during Bajrang Dal’s ‘Shaurya Yatra’ in Karnataka’s Tumkur district.
Remember the incident in Gujarat where 59 kar sevaks’ compartments were set on fire as they were traveling from Ayodhya? Also, keep in mind the Gujarati people’s response. None of the Hindus were confined to their homes. All of them entered the streets.Each residence was entered. The number of retaliation killings is still unknown, despite the fact that 59 kar sevaks were killed. About 2,000 people are thought to have died. He added, “This is the bravery of the Hindus. “I am warning those Jihadists, if our workers are killed from now on, it will be not one, not two, but three,” he added, openly threatening to kill Muslims. Ten of your people will be hospitalized if you attack one of our employees.
He has various interests, one of them is the hoax of the love jihad. In Dakshin Kannada, the VHP recently introduced a “anti-love jihad helpline number” to offer information, legal support, and therapy to those who have been “victims of love jihad.”
“There have been instances of ‘love jihad’ in the Dakshina Kannada district,” Pumpwell claimed. According to incidents, they target women in companies, colleges, and schools. We intend to halt it.Mangaluru’s auto wallahs, students, and youth serve as our eyes and ears.
Pumpwell freely and enthusiastically acknowledges the claims of violent moral policing in an interview with The Quint, adding that “it is totally fine to thrash girls if they roam around with their boyfriends in park or streets.”
He challenged the decision of a private autonomous educational institution to name one of its parks after Father Stan Swami, a priest and tribal activist who was the victim of an institutional murder, along with other sister groups of the VHP. Pumpwell forewarned the college that “the college will be responsible if any untoward incident/attack” if the decision is not reversed.
In Mangalore in October 2021, the VHP and Bajrang Dal launched a program called “Trishool Deeksha” to distribute weapons. This ceremony is a regular event in several Indian regions that involves the militarization of Hindu youth. Pumpwell, the program’s leader, declared audaciously, “We have not distributed bombs or grenades…we organize these programs to instill confidence in our workers for the protection of religion,” in reference to the Trishool Deeksha program.
Pumpwell requested a ban on Muslims engaging in economic activity close to temples in March 2022. In addition, he cautioned Hindu bidders against subletting their stores to non-Hindus.
The VHP performed a ‘ritual’ in May 2022 to determine whether there had ever been a temple at the location where a mosque now stands in Malali, Mangalore. The ceremony “has confirmed that the mosque is built on top of a Hindu temple,” said Pumpwell, who was in charge of it, to the media. However, the case is still ongoing in court.
On July 29, 2022, a few hooded men murdered Mohammed Fazil, a Muslim child, near Suratkal, Mangalore. Later, Pumpwell asserted that the plot to kill Fazil was conceived in retaliation for the assassination of local VHP leader Praveen Nettaru. In this case, Fazil’s father has complained about him.
But Pumpwell is allowed to act violently and with impunity throughout the state. In 2020, he received a personal guarantee from the then-Home Minister of Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai, that “all charges against him shall be dropped.”