Congress leader draws flak from BJP for sponsoring construction of 114 ft tall Jesus Christ statue
Bengaluru, Dec 27: Congress leader D K Shivakumar drew flak from the BJP on for sponsoring construction of a 114-foot statue of Jesus Christ in his constituency, with the saffron party terming it as 'appeasement politics' to remain in the good books of that party high command.
The proposed 101-foot statue atop a 13-foot pedestal is coming up at Kapalibetta in Harobele village, a predominantly Christian locality.
Shivakumar had with his own funds, purchased 10 acres of land at Kapalibetta from the government for the trust that is constructing the statue, his office has said,while claiming it would be the tallest monolithic statue of Jesus in the world.
On December 25, he had laid the foundation at a prayer meet and handed over the title deed for the project,
Coming down heavily on Shivakumar, Rural Development Minister K S Eshwarappa said Congress leaders who opposed the construction of a temple for Lord Ram, who was born in India, were ready to fund construction of a statue of Jesus.
In a tweet, he however, mentioned that Jesus Christ was born in the Vatican, instead of Bethlehem.
"To impress their leader, those in the Congress, who opposed the construction of a grand temple dedicated to Lord Ram, born in our holy country, are going to build from their own money a statue of Jesus, who was born in the Vatican, Eshwarappa tweeted.
"Even Siddaramaiah (Congress leader) cannot stop him (Shivakumar) from becoming KPCC President now," he added.
Shivakumar is seen as one among the front runner for the post of KPCC President that was vacated by Dinesh Gundu Rao, considered Siddaramaiah's confidant, after the party's rout in the December 5 assembly bypolls.
Former Union Minister and BJP MP Ananth Kumar Hegde too took on Shivakumar on the issue and tweeted "Here is the Tihar returned great man who, for the sake of a position, is seeking to please the Italian woman by setting up a huge Jesus statue, thus displaying his gallantry.
It won't be a surprise if more slaves within the Congress compete with each other to do appeasement politics."
"The Italian woman gives importance to only those who have converted to Christianity.
Congress leaders should, at least now, introspect and reject the mindset of slavery in their party and come out," he said in another tweet.
Another BJP MP from Mysuru, Partap Simha, questioned the motive behind installing the statue and demanded to know whether it was a scheme to convert Vokkaligas of Kanakapura.
In a tweet, he further asked Shivakumar whether he had forgotten seers of Mutts like Siddaganga, Suttur and Adichunchanagiri.
"Erecting the statue of Shivakumara swamiji (Siddaganga mutt) would have been like a crown on Kapali Betta- isn't it?".
Reacting to the criticism, Shivakumar said hundreds of Hindu temples has been built in his constituency and he was not doing it for any publicity.
The criticism against him was out of 'jealousy' towards his secular outlook, he said
"I had promised them (people) two years ago, asking them not to do anything on the government land. On Christmas day I handed over the title deed to them.
The erstwhile Congress-JD(S) coalition government had cleared the land.
He also said Anantkumar Hegde was "unemployed" and hence was making such comments.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
