Mangaluru, Nov 29: Taking strong exception to the “graffiti war” that has erupted in Karnataka’s Mangaluru over the last three days, former Karnataka minister and local Congress MLA, U.T. Khader on Sunday demanded that the ruling BJP arrest those involved in this malicious messaging.
Early on Friday, a graffiti appeared in Mangaluru, reading: “Do not instigate us to invite Lashkar-E-Toyaba or Talibanis to deal with Sanghis and Manuvadis, Lashkar-E-Taoyaba Zindabad!”
In response to this, a graffiti message on Saturday stated that the Sangh Parivar “is ready to take on anyone”.
On Sunday, another graffiti message in Urdu but written in English script warned that if anyone insults the Prophet, such person will be beheaded (“Gustak-E-Rasool, ek hi saja, sar dhad se alag”).
The Manguluru police is tight-lipped about these provocative messages, while a senior police officer told that they have already formed teams to identify culprits behind the graffiti exchange.
Police Commissioner Vikas Kumar has appealed to public to inform nearby police station or to call on 9480802304 or 9480802305 or control room number 0824-2220800 any helpful information. The whereabout of the informant will be kept undisclosed.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, Khader angrily accused the district intelligence of sleeping. “How can the police allow communally minded graffiti to come up three days in a row?” he asked.
According to him, whoever behind this must be put behind bars. “These mischievous writings are not only misleading but also threaten communal peace in the city,” he said.
He warned the police that if they do not arrest the culprits in a week, the Congress will launch protests. “In the meanwhile I will meet Home Minister, Basavaraj Bommai and Chief Minister, B.S. Yediyurappa and submit a memorandum separately to them,” he said.
The state’s coastal region is considered to be highly communally sensitive. Even in the past, such mischievous messaging have led to communal disturbances.
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Bengaluru (PTI): BJP leader R Ashoka on Friday claimed that the ongoing power struggle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar has created massive confusion in Karnataka.
He remarked that the proverb “when two people fight, the third one benefits” has come true, as AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge is also now making efforts to become Chief Minister.
Speaking to reporters here, Ashoka said the entire government has turned into a house of confusion due to the alleged power tussle.
Kharge’s new statement has only added to the chaos, he said.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had on Friday said that no date has been fixed yet to discuss possible leadership change in Karnataka.
This came a day after Kharge said there was no change of CM in Karnataka "for now" and that the leadership issue in the state would be resolved soon.
The BJP leader said that Kharge too has aspirations and that he was cheated earlier.
"Perhaps he has received a green signal from the Congress high command to become CM. Everyone is already saying Kharge should become CM. Kharge himself has declared, “I am ready to become CM.” Despite many attempts in the past, he never became CM. Now he is trying to seize the opportunity," the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly said.
According to him, the situation in Congress has perfectly become a case of “two people fighting, third one benefits.”
