IAF evacuates over 300 Indians stranded in Cyclone-hit Sri Lanka
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The Indian Air Force has evacuated over 300 Indian nationals stranded in Sri Lanka due to Cyclone Ditwah and brought them to the Thiruvananthapuram airport.
IAF aircraft operated from Colombo to Thiruvananthapuram reached here by 7.30 pm on Sunday, a Defence spokesman said.
According to the Defence spokesperson, IAF’s IL-76 and C-130J heavy lift carriers, which were used to deliver rescue material and NDRF teams to the island nation, were used for the evacuation of stranded passengers.
IAF continues to extend critical Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) support to the people of Sri Lanka as part of Operation Sagar Bandhu, following the severe humanitarian impact caused by recent natural calamities in the region, a press release said.
Conducting multiple missions, IAF helicopters have airlifted a total of 57 Sri Lankan Army personnel from Diyathalawa Army Camp and Colombo to Kotmale.
Kotmale is the landslide-affected area in the central province of Sri Lanka, which is totally cut off by road.
A hybrid mission was undertaken by the IAF, wherein Garud Commandos were dropped near the stranded civilians and then guided to pre-identified landing sites, where they were picked up by the helicopter crew, the spokesperson said.
“A total of 55 civilians, which included Indians, foreign nationals and Sri Lankan survivors, were successfully evacuated to Colombo. Operating round the clock, the two Indian helicopters have flown more than 12 sorties for the rescue operations till now,” the release added.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
