Popular Urdu poet Azeezuddin Azeez Belgaumi passes away in Bengaluru at 71
Bengaluru: Renowned Urdu poet and author Azeezuddin Azeez Belgaumi passed away in Bengaluru on Friday at the age of 71 after experiencing chest pain.
Azeez Belgaumi, originally from Belgaum in Karnataka, had a multifaceted career, which spanned teaching, writing, publishing, and broadcasting. A science graduate with an MA and MPhil, Azeez was well-known for his contributions to Urdu literature and poetry, with three books to his name: a prose book titled Zanjeer-e-Dast-o-Paa and two poetry collections, Harf-o-Saut and Sukun ke Lamhon ki Tazagi.
He also lent his voice to an audio CD of Allama Iqbal's poems with Malayalam translations, released in Kerala.
Azeez also had a long-standing association with All India Radio and Doordarshan Bengaluru, where he interviewed over 50 prominent personalities from various fields.
Funeral prayers will be held after Isha prayers in Bengaluru.
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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.
