Deve Gowda, wife upset by allegations of sexual abuse against Prajwal: HD Kumaraswamy
Raichur (Karnataka), May 3: Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday said his 90-year-old father and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and mother Chennamma were in "pain" following the alleged sexual abuse of several women by his nephew and MP Prajwal Revanna.
The JD(S) leader lashed out at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for accusing him and Deve Gowda of consulting lawyers regarding the legal fight to protect the Hassan MP, and said he does not have humanity.
"I want to ask the chief minister of this state whether he has any respect for parents -- I don't know from what culture you (CM) have come from. Today you have posted a statement on twitter (now X) stating that -- on one hand Gowda and Kumaraswamy say that the accused must be punished while on the other hand they have called the lawyer to Gowda's house to discuss on how to save the accused (Prajwal) and set things right legally," Kumaraswamy said.
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"This chief minister doesn't have humanity," he told reporters here. "I don't want to speak about his (CM) family to take protection... My parents are in pain. To give them confidence so that things don't affect their life, to comfort them, I was with them in their house in Bengaluru both yesterday and day before yesterday."
He further said, "Get video recordings from media persons stationed in front of our houses and see, Mr Siddaramaiah, as to which lawyer came to our house and how we discussed saving the accused", Kumaraswamy said, addressing the chief minister.
"You may not have respect for parents, you may not have come from that culture. For me, my parents are important. I know about (my father's) 60 years of political life, and how my mother (Chennamma) has led her life," he said.
The 33-year-old Prajwal Revanna is the son of H D Deve Gowda's elder son H D Revanna, who is an MLA and a former minister. Prajwal is the BJP-JD(S) alliance's candidate from Hassan, which went to the polls on April 26.
Explicit video clips allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna sexually abusing several women had started making the rounds in Hassan in recent days. The state government has constituted a SIT to investigate the allegations against the MP.
Kumaraswamy also flayed attempts at dragging Deve Gowda's name into the issue.
"You might not know or have forgotten how he (Deve Gowda) has led his life. We have said several times now: whoever has done wrong should face punishment. Still such statements are being made," he added.
Siddaramaiah, the 'bete noire' of Deve Gowda, was together with the JD(S) patriarch for a long time politically as part of the Janata Dal and JD(S) before he joined the Congress.
Siddaramaiah on Friday alleged that Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy were consulting lawyers.
"Kumaraswamy and Deve Gowda, who said that they don't have anything to do with (developments in) Revanna's family, have called a lawyer to their house and have held discussions. When they went for the election campaign, they said that 'I am not different, Prajwal Revanna is not different. They all do political and sinful acts together," the chief minister alleged.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
