Cauvery protests: Security stepped up in Bengaluru, particularly in Tamil dominated areas
Bengaluru (PTI): Amid protests in several parts of Karnataka over the Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka, including Bengaluru, the city police has tightened security, especially in Tamil dominated areas.
These precautions were taken after protests erupted following the Supreme Court decision yesterday to not interfere with the order of Cauvery Water Regulation Committee according to which Karnataka must release 5,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda held meetings with his subordinates and instructed all the deputy commissioners of police in the city to be on high alert and step up security in their respective jurisdictions especially in Tamil dominated areas to avoid any untoward incident.
The police commissioner told PTI that all necessary security measures have been taken.
Soon after the Supreme Court verdict on the Cauvery issue, several organisations took to the streets in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka to register their protest. On Friday too, protests were staged by various outfits in some areas of the city such as K R Puram.
Anticipating protests in the coming days as well, the police chief has directed all deputy commissioners of police to take necessary steps to maintain law and order.
Officers have been asked to tighten security measures in their respective jurisdictions based on intelligence reports about possible protests and violence in the coming days due to the Cauvery river water dispute. Farmer organisations and pro-Kannada group may stage protests at various places which may lead to traffic congestions and inconvenience to public at large, a senior police official said.
Officers have been instructed to ensure that no incident of stone pelting takes place on any Tamil Nadu registered buses or private vehicles, he said.
Farmer organisations and pro-Kannada outfits staged protests in Cauvery river basin districts like Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagara and Ramanagara expressing their anger and urging the state government not to release water to the neighbouring state.
Protests have also spread to other districts including Chitradurga, Ballari, Davangere, Koppal and Vijayapura.
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.
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.
