Karnataka: Former Minister says attempts were made to tap his phone
Bengaluru, Sep 12: JD(S) MLA and former Minister S R Srinivas on Thursday alleged that his phone was tapped during the tenure of the coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy, despite him being the part of the administration.
"Whoever has done things that are illegal should be punished... according to my information, phones were getting tapped...whoever has committed mistake has to be punished mercilessly," he told reporters in Tumkur.
Asked whether it was done at the behest of Kumaraswamy, he said he was not aware of it.
"I don't know whether Kumarawamy or officials were behind it. I had information phones were getting tapped. As soon as I got to know, I changed my number.
During the coalition government (tenure), despite me being part of the government, my phone was tapped,"he alleged.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had last month handed over the alleged phone tapping case to CBI, as signs of the scandal gained political steam ever since disqualified JD(S) MLA A H Vishwanath dropped the political bomb, accusing the Kumarswamy government of tapping phones and spying on more than 300 people, including him.
Congress leaders, including Siddaramaiah, M Mallikarjuna Kharge and home minister in the alliance government M B Patil, had sought a probe, while several BJP leaders had directly accused Kumaraswamy of being behind the episode to save his government, which was then rocked by dissidence within.
Srinivas also hit out at Kumaraswamy for not attending the protest rally organised here on Wednesday by several Vokkaliga outfits against the arrest of senior Congress leader D K Shivakumar.
"We had gone there as a leader of the community was in trouble and the community was protesting against it. Probably he (Kumaraswamy) didn't have that feeling and so he didn't come.
It is not something for which an invitation has to be extended. It is the community's work.
Did we give an invitation to about 25,000 people who came for the protest yesterday?" he asked and said "personal ego" should be set aside on the community issue.
Kumaraswamy on Wednesday had cited not getting an invite as the reason for his absence from the protest rally.
Thousands of people, mostly from the Vokkaliga community, had thronged the state capital to express solidarity with Shivakumar, an influential senior Karnataka Congress leader and former Minister.
Kumaraswamy, who also hails from the community, was conspicuous by his absence at the protest, that was largely seen as as a show of strength of the community, dominant in old Mysuru or southern Karnataka region.
Shivakumar, a key minister in the Congress-JDS coalition government headed by Kumaraswamy that collapsed after losing majority in July,was arrested on September 3 by the Enforcement Directorate in a case of alleged money laundering and has been in its custody since then.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
