Demand for Muslim candidate in Bhatkal constituency gains pace on social media ahead of K'taka polls
Bhatkal: With over 55 thousand votes, the Muslims in the Bhatkal-Honnavar Constituency have lately been raising demands of fielding a Muslim candidate in the constituency. WhatsApp groups and Facebook pages have been created to garner support for demanding a Muslim candidate among the locals.
The general perception among the Muslim youngsters in Bhatkal is that the community has not been able to groom even a single Muslim political leader for over forty years now after the late Jukaku Shamsuddin and SM Yahya. The debates on social media have also revolved around how the secular parties have exploited the Muslim votes in the region but have never allowed a Muslim candidate to contest the assembly elections.
The majority of the members of the WhatsApp groups that have been created to discuss the issue ahead of the local socio-political organization Majlis-e-Islah wa Tanzeem extend support to any of the candidates in the fray, collectively opine that even if it means losing the election, the Tanzeem should support a Muslim candidate and put a show of the strength and significance of its votes.
The Muslim community in the constituency has 55,000 votes, second only to the Namdhari community which has over 65,000 voters. The majority of the political parties have traditionally preferred Namdhari candidates or other candidates over Muslims to contest on their tickets.
Majlis-e-Islah wa Tanzeem in 2013, supported JD(s) leader Inayathullah Shabandri in the 2013 assembly elections. Shabandri secured the second position in the elections and polled over 27 thousand votes against the 37,319 votes polled by independent candidate Mankal Vaidya who won the election that year.
In 2018, Mankal Vaidya contested the election on a Congress ticket backed by Tanzeem and lost the election to Sunil Naik of the BJP. Shabandri, who is now the president of Majlis-e-Islah wa Tanzeem, had to withdraw his candidature after failing to secure Tanzeem’s support for the election.
With the 2023 assembly polls in sight, the locals are upping their demands to support a Muslim candidate. While some are against these demands and believe fielding a Muslim candidate will ensure the victory of the BJP, the number of people bolding the gamble to field a Muslim candidate is higher.
With Election Commission expected to announce the dates of the election later this month, it will be interesting to see how these demands of locals influence political parties.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Delhi airport incident: AI Express issues show cause notice to pilot
External inquiry panel to be set up
New Delhi (PTI): Air India Express will set up an external committee next week to inquire into the incident of one of its off-duty captain assaulting a passenger at the Delhi airport on Friday, sources said.
Soon after the incident on Friday, the Tata Group-owned airline suspended the pilot and the sources told PTI that a show cause notice has also been served to him seeking an explanation.
The proceedings are being carried under the labour laws as a pilot comes under the workmen category. An external inquiry committee will set up next week to probe the incident, the sources said.
ALSO READ: Sportspersons winning gold in Olympics to get Rs 6 crore cash prize, says CM Siddaramaiah
The incident occurred at Terminal 1 (T1) of the Delhi airport on Friday.
The passenger Ankit Dewan, on Friday, shared his experience in a social media post, along with a photo showing blood on his face after the altercation. He also shared a photo of the pilot Virender Sejwal.
On Saturday, the civil aviation ministry said it has taken serious cognizance of the incident and directed the airline to ground the pilot with immediate effect.
"A formal enquiry has been ordered. Detailed reports have been sought from BCAS and CISF," the ministry had said in a post on X in a response to a post by Dewan.
In a statement on Friday, Air India Express said it is aware of an incident at the Delhi airport involving one of its employees, who was travelling as a passenger on another airline, and had an altercation with another passenger.
"We unequivocally condemn such behaviour. The employee concerned has been removed from official duties with immediate effect, pending investigation.
"Appropriate disciplinary action will be initiated based on the findings of the inquiry," the airline had said.
Air India Express officials had also contacted the passenger.
