Dozens of Hong Kong protesters make daring campus breakout
Hong Kong: Dozens of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters dramatically escaped a two-day police siege at a university campus late Monday by shimmying down ropes from a bridge to waiting motorbikes, after Beijing again warned it could intervene to end the crisis engulfing the city.
Clashes rumbled into the early hours of Tuesday between protesters and police who had threatened to use deadly force to dislodge activists holed up at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). The university siege has become a battle of wills between Hong Kong's stretched police force and the constantly innovating protest movement.
Late Monday, dozens of black-clad protesters on a footbridge slithered down ropes several metres to a road below, where they were whisked away on motorbikes.
In an apparently co-ordinated effort, tens of thousands of Hong Kongers streamed towards the PolyU campus to break the siege, as clashes simultaneously raged with police nearby in Kowloon. Several dozen people remained on the campus, one protester told AFP, although a number of minors were allowed to leave after negotiations with lawmakers.
A new phase of violence and drama began last week and has led to chaos throughout the semi-autonomous city of 7.5 million people, with schools closed, train lines disrupted and major roads blocked by barricades.
China has refused to budge on any of the protesters' demands, and warned it will not tolerate dissent in the financial centre.
A brief appearance by Chinese soldiers on Hong Kong's streets over the weekend -- supposedly to clean up debris -- fuelled concerns that Beijing could intervene militarily. China's ambassador to Britain upped the ante on Monday.
"The Hong Kong government is trying very hard to put the situation under control," Liu Xiaoming said. "But if the situation becomes uncontrollable, the central government would certainly not sit on our hands and watch. We have enough resolution and power to end the unrest."
Earlier, police made dozens of arrests as protesters made a dash for it -- sometimes beating people with batons as they held them on the ground, or kicking their heads.
"Other than coming out to surrender, I don't see any viable option for them," Cheuk Hau-yip, the police commander in Hong Kong's Kowloon West district, told a press conference, before the daring breakout.
The campus has been designated a 'riot' zone -- a charge of rioting carries up to 10 years in prison -- and Cheuk reiterated that police will use "live rounds" against protesters if faced with deadly weapons. Desperation deepened overnight inside the campus, where exhausted and scared mainly young protesters rationed the remaining food and bottled water.
"I will run but never surrender. I don't want to get arrested," said a protester who gave his name only as 'W'. "We are like rats in a trap."
Protests started in June as a peaceful condemnation of a now-shelved China extradition bill, but have morphed into a confrontational action to defend the city's unique freedoms from perceived encroachment by Beijing. Even by recent standards, the last few days have stood out as particularly violent, with one police officer hit in the leg by an arrow, and an armoured police vehicle torched.
Officers fired live rounds on Monday, though said they did not think anyone had been hit.
This was probably the most surreal thing I have ever witnessed in the Hong Kong protests. Protesters just attempted a daring escape through a bridge at Polytechnic University. Volunteers on motorbikes came in drives to drive them out asap. Police fired teargas. #HongKongProtests pic.twitter.com/huhSo3Mxo9
— Michael Zhang 張雨軒 (@YuxuanMichael) November 18, 2019
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Hubballi murder: Mother of accused demands strict punishment for son
Says it was Neha who made first move and took his phone number
Hubballi (Karnataka), Apr 20: The mother of 23-year-old Fayaz, who killed daughter of a Congress councillor inside a college campus in Hubballi, apologised to the victim Neha's family for her son's act and demanded strict punishment for him.
There have been protests in several parts of the state demanding capital punishment for Fayaz, who has been arrested in connection with the incident that occurred on April 18.
With folded arms and tears in eyes, the accused's mother Mamtaz, a teacher said, "I apologise to the people of Karnataka as well as Neha's family for what my son has done. It is a great injustice to Neha and her family.
"What my son has done is completely wrong and we hang our heads in shame. What he did is a big mistake and he should be given strict punishment as per the law of the land," she said.
ALSO READ: Congress Corporator's daughter stabbed to death inside college campus in Hubballi
Speaking to reporters in Dharwad, she said that her son and Neha were not just friends but that they were in love and wanted to marry.
Recalling Neha as a good girl, Mamtaz said she came to know about their relationship a year ago.
"It was Neha who made the first move and took his phone number. My son did tell me about Neha and that he was in love with her and they wanted to get married. But I had suggested that he first focus on his career.
"My son was very brilliant and always secured above 90 percent marks since LKG and UKG days. He wanted to become an IAS officer and was also a University Blue (bodybuilding competition) champion," she said.
Meanwhile, former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Saturday visited the victim's family and offered condolences.
Condemning the incident, he said, "It was an inhumane act. The way Fayaz murdered Neha, it was inhumane. It is a condemnable act and I insist that the state government, Chief Minister and Home Minister conduct an impartial and speedy inquiry into the matter."
The murder of the daughter of the city corporation councillor on the campus of her college here has sparked widespread condemnation and protests.
The issue has snowballed into a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and opposition BJP in Karnataka. While the ruling party has tried to project it as an "incident with a personal angle", the saffron party suspects "love jihad" and said that it points to the "deterioration of law and order" in the state.
Neha (23), the daughter of Congress Councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College on Thursday. The accused Fayaz Khondunaik, who fled the scene, was arrested by police subsequently.
Neha was a first-year MCA student and Fayaz was her former classmate.
According to a senior police officer, Fayaz stabbed her multiple times. During interrogation, he claimed that the two had been in a relationship but she had been avoiding him of late.
"It needs to be corroborated and verified, but he was arrested immediately," the officer said.
In Munavalli, Fayaz's hometown in Belagavi district, the incident sparked outrage and demonstrations have been held by various organisations condemning the murder.
The victim's family has been demanding that the accused be hanged to death and only then will their daughter's soul rest in peace.
