Karnataka bandh over Cauvery issue disrupts normal life in Bengaluru and southern parts of State
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka bandh called by the 'Kannada Okkoota' to oppose release of water to Tamil Nadu received a good response in Bengaluru and other southern parts of the State on Friday, disrupting normal life.
Authorities have clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code in Bengaluru Urban, Mandya, Mysuru, Chamarajanagara, Ramanagara and Hassan districts, and declared a holiday for schools and colleges there.
'Kannada Okkoota' is an umbrella organsation of Kannada and farmers' outfits. A Bengaluru bandh was observed over the same reason on Tuesday.
Most of the shops, business establishments and eateries in Cauvery basin districts such as Mandya in southern part of the State downed their shutters. Private vehicles were off the roads in those areas.
The state-owned transport corporations operated very few buses in the southern districts fearing a backlash.
The bandh evoked a mixed response in other regions of the State.
Protestors set fire to a portrait of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin in the district headquarters town of Chitradurga.
The Kannada film industry has extended support to the bandh.
Theatres across the State have cancelled shows till evening, with the Karnataka Film Exhibitors Association backing the bandh.
Most of the information technology companies and other firms in Bengaluru have asked their employees to work from home.
Key market areas in Bengaluru such as Chikpet, Balepet and adjoining business areas wore a deserted look.
The Auto Rickshaw Drivers Union and Ola Uber Drivers and Owners Associations too have extended their support to the bandh.
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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.
