Karnataka Congress President and Deputy Chief Minister, D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday said there was a need to wage a war against communal forces in the present times.

Speaking in Bengaluru after participating in the flag hoisting ceremony at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office premises, Shivakumar said: “The seeds of poison are being sowed in terms of religion, caste and creed in the country which is built on the foundations of non-violence, peace, tolerance and fraternity.

“There is a need for waging another war of independence. The contemporary struggle is to fight against communal forces.”

Shivakumar said that the country was earlier united under the Congress party and presently, the nation is becoming one under the INDIA opposition alliance

“Karnataka was the first state to wage a war against the British. In Karnataka, which provided the platform for the freedom movement, INDIA has also taken shape.

“We have a responsibility to empower INDIA and protect the country. The party which got the freedom for the country, build it and put it on the path of progress is the Congress party.

“We can’t sit quietly after hoisting a flag and singing the national anthem. We know what happened to liberty in this country. The incidents of massacre in Manipur state, communal strife in Haryana and lynchings in Uttar Pradesh provide testimonial to the fact that who is crushing the freedom in the country, ” Shivakumar maintained.

The Deputy Chief Minister went on to say that the objectives of freedom such as integrity, co-existence, communal harmony and inclusiveness have gone for a toss.

“The BJP does not understand the importance of freedom. The saffron party does not have a history of participating in the freedom struggle,” Shivakumar charged.

“Esuru village in Shivamogga district of Karnataka declared independence against Britishers for the first time in the country. The Amara Sullia struggle launched in 1837 was the country’s first freedom struggle. For 13 days, the freedom fighters have managed to raise Indian flags in Mangaluru city and surrounding villages.

But, on October 21, 1837 the main leaders of this movement were hanged. The massacre of freedom fighters in Vidurashwatha on April 25, 1938 can be termed as the Jallianwala Bagh of South India,” he added.