Bengaluru violence: Only those really guilty should be punished: Deve Gowda
Bengaluru: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Thursday said only those really guilty should be punished for the violence in parts of the city on August 11, as he asked the Congress and BJP not to indulge in a political blame game on the issue.
Expressing sadness over the attack on Pulakeshi Nagar MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy's residence, the JD(S) patriarch also said the government should take action to get justice for him and give him compensation for the losses.
"The attack on Pulakeshi Nagar MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy's residence is unfortunate and such incidents should not occur in any part of the country.
Police have arrested about 140 people in connection with rioting, but how many among them are real culprits?" Gowda was quoted as saying by his office in a release. He said, "all of them (arrested) cannot be culprits.
Only those who are really guilty should be held responsible for the incident and merciless action should be taken against them. Innocents should not be punished, this is my request to the police."
Three persons were killed after police opened fire to quell a mob that went on a rampage in a city locality on Tuesday night over a purportedly inflammatory social media post allegedly put out by the Congress legislator Murthy's relative.
Urging the government to take merciless action against those really guilty, Gowda said, burning down houses, cars and looting the properties related to an MLA was unheard of in the state.
"Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy has not betrayed anyone, yes he was in our party earlier, that's a different matter. Government should take all necessary steps to get him justice. The loss that he has suffered, jewellery among other things he should be given compensation," he said.
Murthys residence and a police station at D J Halli were among those targeted by the mob. The house of the MLA, who was not at home at the time, was allegedly set on fire.
Asking the BJP and Congress not to indulge in a political blame game regarding the violence, Gowda said no one should speak according to their whims and fancies on such matters.
Further stating that the JD(S) will begin its statewide agitation from tomorrow against the state government's "anti-farmer" laws and amendments to the land reforms act, among others, he said, the protests will be flagged off from Hassan, by following COVID-19 guidelines.
Only 200 people are likely to participate in the protest tomorrow, he said.
Along with him, party state president H K Kumaraswamy, son and MLA H D Revanna will submit a memorandum to the governor through the district deputy commissioner.
Stating that the protest will be scaled up step by step in all the 30 districts next week, Gowda said as he cannot travel everywhere, the state president, party leaders and legislators will take the lead.
He pointed out that large-scale destruction has been caused to properties and crops due to recent rains and floods in different parts of the state.
The Prime Minister's recent meeting with ministers from the state regarding the flood situation was not satisfactory, according to him.
Gowda urged the state government to send officials to districts and taluks to assess the damage and send a report to the Centre, adding that the centre should immediately send a team to the state.
"Last year injustice happened to us with regard to flood relief. It should not happen this time. I will speak about this in Parliament," Gowda, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, added
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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.
