Mehbooba Mufti laments Bajrang Dal activist's killing in Karnataka
Jammu, Feb 21: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday lamented the killing of a Bajrang Dal activist in Karnataka, saying it was tragic.
Bajrang Dal activist Harsha, 23, was stabbed to death by unidentified people in Karnataka's Shivamogga district on Sunday night.
It (the killing) should not have happened. It is very tragic, she told reporters.
Asked whether she condemned the killing, Mufti said, Exactly, it should be condemned if something like that has happened.
The former chief minister was interacting with media persons outside her party headquarters at Gandhi Nagar in Jammu, where she met several delegations, including unemployed youth and transporters.
Various delegations, including the aspiring candidates of Border Battalions and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and transporters, held separate meetings with me to highlight their issues. I request the administration to take note of their grievances and ensure final selection of the candidates for Border Battalions as many of the youth, who have applied for the jobs, have turned overage, she said.
Mufti also asked the administration to look into the issues of transporters who, she said, have suffered huge losses over the years.
The government is phasing out commercial vehicles in Jammu and Srinagar districts in 20 years and in the rest of the districts in 25 years they (transporters) have suffered huge losses (due to COVID-induced lockdown) and are overburdened by loans. The price hike of diesel has made their lives miserable, she said, expressing hope that the government will take note of their issues and address them on priority.
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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.
