Did Karnataka's BJP leader Anantkumar Hegde really target Dalits?

Union minister Ananthkumar Hegde has courted controversy againt with his recent statement referring to barking dogs. This was indeed pointed out by actor Prakash Raj, who took to twitter, to slam him. The statement was construed as one made against the dalits when he attended an event in Ballari, Karnataka Dalit groups protested against him. Dig deeper into his statement, he never mentioned dalits; was his statement truly misconstrued?

We are all aware of the argument that ensued between actor Prakash Raj and Union minister Anantkumar Hegde post his speech in Ballari, Karnataka, recently. While Hegde was attending an event organised by his skill development ministry, dalit groups had staged a protest over a remark he made about changing the constitution.

His convoy was gheraoed and black flags were shown too. But Hegde's reaction at the event was this: "We have our commitment to the nation and we will not be swayed by barking dogs."

* Watch this video here

And thus it backfired, for it was immediately construed as a statement against the dalits, given the circumstances. And do know there's a saying, Strike while the Iron is Hot? Well, looks like actor Prakash Raj knew all too well about this, and he was indeed quick enough to tweet this: “Serial offender…minister Ananthkumar Hegde at it again….he calls Dalits DOGs for protesting against his controversial Constitution remark…’’

According to reports, Hegde clarified that his remark was made against the "so-called intellectuals," who were critical of his political stand on various issues. The barking dog reference was intended to target them and not the dalits.

And he does have a point. Analyse his statement carefully, he hasn't used the word dalits at all. He may be a man known to make politically-charged statements, but to infer something on what was actually not declared is equally inappropriate... #justsaying!