Kerala CM writes to Jaishankar offering support for Indians stranded at Colombo airport
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar offering all necessary support from the state for the Indians stranded at the Colombo airport due to Cyclone Ditwah.
Vijayan, in his letter on Saturday, said the cyclone has caused severe disruptions at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, stranding nearly 300 Indian passengers, many of whom are from Kerala.
He said the Indian passengers have been stuck there for the last three days without adequate food, water and basic facilities.
The chief minister said many of the passengers were using Colombo as a pit stop for return journeys to home or going abroad and are in crisis at present.
"We are deeply concerned about the condition of the people who are stranded. The Government of Kerala stands ready to provide all necessary support and awaits your kind urgent response and action," Vijayan said in the letter to Jaishankar.
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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.
