APCR files complaint against Asianet Suvarna News, anchor Ajit Hanumakkanavar over Pakistan flag row
Bengaluru: The Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) has lodged a complaint with the Bengaluru Assistant Commissioner of Police against Asia Net Suvarna News and its anchor, Ajit Hanumakkanavar, accusing them of spreading communal hatred.
APCR General Secretary Mohammed Niyaz submitted a memorandum to the Assistant Commissioner of Police in RT Nagar, alleging that during a broadcast on May 9, 2024, Ajit Hanumakkanavar used the Indian flag to represent the Hindu population and the Pakistani flag to represent Muslims. This program was aired on television and on the channel's YouTube platform.
According to the complaint, the program discussed the Population Report released by the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (EAC-PM), which claims that the share of Hindus in India has decreased by 7.8% between 1950 and 2015. Niyaz, a high court lawyer, argued that Hanumakkanavar's use of national flags as metaphors for religious communities was not only misleading but also fostered fear among viewers about the changing demographics in India compared to other countries where Muslim populations are lower.
Niyaz urged the Assistant Commissioner to take legal action against both the channel and the anchor, arguing that the tone and tenor of the program were designed to incite fear and promote divisiveness based on religious identities.
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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.
