Mixed response to farmers' agitation in MP amid heavy police presence
Bhopal, June 1: A mixed response was witnessed to the Madhya Pradesh farmers' call for the 10-day shutdown in the state beginning Friday amid heavy police presence, coninciding with the first anniversary of the death of seven persons in police firing on farmers.
In state capital Bhopal, Mandsaur and other places, milk and vegetables supply was affected, due to which prices of vegetables recorded an uptick.
Security personnel, including those from the paramilitary forces, were deployed in strength.
Though the shutdown had limited affect in big cities and towns, it was widespread in small towns and suburbs.
Aam Kisan Union Kedar Sirohi told IANS: "Farmers are united and continuing with their protest. The state government is trying to make their protest a failure but they are not ready to bow before the government at any cost."
Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh leader Shivkumar Sharma accused the government of spreading lies and rumours on the agitation by farmers.
"The question is not who is supporting the agitation. The question is if the demands of the farmers are valid," he said.
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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.
