Karnataka to implement CAA "hundred per cent": CM Yediyurappa
Bengaluru, Dec 18: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday declared that his government will "hundred per cent" implement the Citizenship Amendment Act.
"Hundred per cent we will implement," he told reporters at Hubballi in north Karnataka in response to a question regarding the implementation of the CAA.
State Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai had said on Tuesday that for "political reasons" several state governments have taken divergent views on the CAA's implementation, "but taking the constitutional position Karnataka will implement it."
"The bill to this effect has been passed by Parliament, President has given his assent, it is law now for the whole country, so it applies to Karnataka also," Bommai said.
The Home Minister expressed confidence that there will be no violence in "peace-loving" Karnataka, where police have taken precautionary measures.
Chief ministers of several states like West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have said they will not implement the law.
Different parts of the country witnessed violent protests against the citizenship (amendment) bill which was passed by Parliament and given assent by the President last week.
According to the Act, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, and facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.
The act says refugees of the six communities will be given Indian citizenship after residing in India for five years, instead of 11 years earlier.
Yediyurappa on Wednesday also welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict dismissing a convict's review plea in the Nirbhaya case.
"Death penalty to Nirbhaya's murderers is a welcome thing.....this decision was an alarm bell for those indulging in such crimes," he said.
The Supreme Court has dismissed the plea filed by one of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, seeking review of its 2017 judgment upholding his death penalty.
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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.
