Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah demands serious action on threat letter
Bengaluru, Jan 26: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday demanded that the state government should take serious note of an unsigned letter threatening to kill 15 eminent people, including former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.
The government should take the death threat...seriously. The government should investigate into the matter and bring the criminals to book," said Siddaramaiah in a tweet.
He said those forces wanting to snatch away the freedom of expression by creating an atmosphere of fear should be punished.
The threat was also made to actors Prakash Raj and Chetan, and Lingayat Seer Nijagunananda Swami.
The letter was reportedly posted to the Seer's ashram in Belagavi and the 15 were reportedly dubbed as traitors.
Reacting to it, Kumaraswamy had said he would not stay quiet because of such threats. "I know who is behind it. Those belonging to BJP-linked organisations speak about terror activities of other community, while there were terrorists within. Very carefully they conduct their activities, Kumaraswamy had said.
Prakash Raj had also tweeted, A coward group's letter threatening that they will eliminate NIJAGUNANANDA SWAMY. My name in the list too. Chalo #HumDekhenge."
In another tweet, Siddaramaiah said he would not take up advocacy for a woman who was arrested for holding the placard Free Kashmir, since his licence to practise in court had been suspended long ago.
"However, I will support any advocate who takes up the case of the woman. Let there be no confusion about it, Siddaramaiah said.
The placard with 'Free Kashmir' message was held aloft by the woman in Mumbai on January 6 during the protest against the violence on the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
