3 arrested in connection with attack on Left, Congress MPs in Tripura
Agartala (PTI): Three people were arrested in connection with the attack on a parliamentary delegation of the Left and the Congress in Tripura's Sepahijala district, police said on Saturday.
The delegation, comprising Left and Congress MPs, was attacked in Nehalchandranagar, a border village of Bishalgarh subdivision, on Friday when it was visiting areas affected by post-poll violence.
"Three persons have been arrested so far, and steps are being taken to apprehend the others involved in the attack. An FIR has been filed in connection with the incident," a senior police officer told PTI.
Security forces have been deployed in the area, he said, adding that senior officers were overseeing the situation.
"Chief Minister Manik Saha, who is currently in Delhi, spoke to DGP Amitabh Ranjan, and asked him to arrest all the accused persons, irrespective of their political colours," another official said.
The CPI(M) said that the joint team of the Left and the Congress were visiting various violence-hit areas of West Tripura, Sepahijala and Khowai on Friday.
"Once the delegation, comprising CPI(M) MP E Karim and Congress MP Abdul Khaliq and AICC general secretary Ajay Kumar, landed at Nehalchandrangar market, they were attacked by miscreants raising slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. One vehicle was severely damaged, while two more cars were also vandalised," senior CPI(M) leader Rakhal Majumder said.
At least 20 shops were set on fire in the area on Wednesday night.
Police said none of the eight members of the team were injured in the attack, and two-three vehicles with leaders of the Left parties and the Congress on board were vandalised.
The team is expected to stay in the state till March 12 after which it will submit a report, and the issue will be raised in Parliament, CPI MP Binoy Viswam said.
Most of the post-poll violence cases have so far been reported from Sepahijala and Khowai districts.
Chief Minister Manik Saha asked the police to take stern action, maintaining that a group with vested interests was trying to create trouble in the state.
The assembly election results were announced on March 2, and the BJP-IPFT government returned to power in the state for the second consecutive term.
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Choose faith or future: BJP alleges 'second-class treatment' of Hindus in K'natka CET row
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Saturday accused the Karnataka Congress government of being "anti-Hindu" and following double standards after students appearing for the Common Entrance Test (CET) were allegedly asked to remove their 'janeu'.
A political row erupted after five Brahmin students were allegedly forced to remove the thread, considered sacred and worn across the torsos, at a city college in during the CET on Friday.
Students alleged that the invigilators at Madivala asked them to remove their janeu/yajnopaveetha if they wanted to write the exam.
In a video post on X, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla lambasted the act.
"Is it a crime to be a Hindu in Karnataka? In Karnataka, students were stopped from entering the examination hall for wearing a janeu and were given a brutal option -- choose your faith or your future. This happened last year as well," Poonawalla alleged.
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He accused the Karnataka government of practising double standards and engaging in appeasement politics.
"In Karnataka, we have seen the politics of appeasement. Muslim reservation, a Muslim-only budget, and quotas and contractual work for Muslims. But Hindus have to remove their sacred thread if they want to take an exam, which even the courts have, by the way, allowed," he alleged.
He accused the Congress government of adopting a similar approach in other states where it is in power, while allowing hijab and burka in classrooms.
"It has happened in various Congress-ruled states. We have seen that the Congress party advocates the right to hijab and burkha within the classroom. They say this should be allowed. Even the courts have overruled it.
"But in the case of janeu, they want it to be removed. This is not the first time this has happened. In Telangana and other states, the tilak and mangalsutra were removed. But hijab is fine. This is the kind of second-class treatment being given to Hindus," he added.
Poonawalla said the Congress should rename itself from INC to "MMC -- Muslim League Maowadi Congress" or the "Islamic National Caliphate Party".
As the controversy took a political turn, the college suspended the invigilator pending inquiry. The government also ordered a probe.
The police registered a case and detained three staff members of Krupanidhi College who were in charge of examination checking for questioning, officials said.
A similar incident took place last year in Karnataka, following which the government directed that the candidates would not be asked to remove the janeu while appearing for the CET.
