Narasimha Mani is a Hindutva hardliner and a leader associated with the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), known for his openly provocative speeches against Muslims. On April 21 in Attavar, Mangaluru, at a protest meeting organized by the VHP in front of the Mini Vidhana Soudha, Mani invoked and glorified the 2002 Gujarat violence, particularly the killings that followed the Godhra incident.

In a chilling speech, he claimed that Muslim-dominated areas had been sealed off and “burned from night till morning,” praising the scale of violence as a show of Hindu power. He urged for similar actions to be carried out across the country, showing no hesitation in inviting legal action, saying, “You may file cases against us when we speak about Godhra; we have no problem with that.”

This was not an isolated instance. On March 16, 2023, residents of Patlakodi in Bantwal filed a police complaint against Mani for a communal speech delivered during a VHP programme held at Mittur in Idkidu village in Karnataka. In that address, he allegedly called the people of Patlakodi “traitors” and “cow thieves,” labelling the area as “mini Pakistan.” The complaint accused Mani of deliberately attempting to stoke hatred between Hindus and Muslims and disturb social harmony.