Udupi : Dinesh Amin Mattu, media advisor to the Chief Minister, has said that the ascendancy of reactionary forces posed a danger to the Constitution of the country.

He was speaking at a public meeting organised by the Congress to mark the 75th anniversary of the Quit India Movement at the Clock Tower here on Wednesday.

Terming the Constitution as a sacred document, Mr. Mattu said there were systematic efforts on to weaken the institutions in the country.

The Parliamentary elections of 2019 would mark a turning point in the history of the country.

People have to be made aware about the importance of the Constitution and its broad-minded spirit, pluralism, and secularism, he added.

The Congress has the correct ideology. But the party was hesitant to take on the BJP on ideological issues. The Congress should stop resorting to “soft Hindutva.” It was incumbent upon the Congress workers to go to the grassroots and explain their ideology to the people. “It is only when you believe in your ideology that you will be able to take on the ideology of the BJP,” he said.

It was a fact that the tall leaders of the Congress had gone to the prison during the freedom struggle and were responsible for the Quit India Movement. But none of the then Hindutva icons had participated in the Quit India Movement. Hence the “nationalism” that the Sangh Parivar harped about routinely carried no weight. “Those who talk about ‘nationalism’ need to be told about the freedom struggle,” he said.

It was social reformers such as Basaveshwara, Swami Vivekananda, and Sri Narayanaguru, who had tried their utmost to reform the Hindu religion. But many “dharma peethas” (religious centres) had now become recruitment centres of communalism. “I respect the Hindu religion of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Narayanaguru. But I am against the Hindu religion of BJP president Amit Shah and RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat,” he said.

A couple of decades ago, the people of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada were known for their intelligence and enterprising nature. But now these districts were being associated with communalism and moral policing.

“An atmosphere has been created here where you are considered a Hindu only if you hate Muslims,” Mr. Mattu said. Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports Pramod Madhwaraj and other Congress leaders were present.

Earlier, Congress members took out a procession from the Congress Bhavan to the Clock Tower.