Karnataka observes 12-hour statewide Bandh by pro-Kannada groups amid tight security today
Bengaluru (PTI): A 12-hour statewide bandh called by the pro-Kannada groups to protest the alleged assault on a state-run bus conductor in Belagavi last month for not knowing Marathi began in Karnataka on Saturday morning amid tight security.
In several parts of the state, the pro-kannada groups took to the streets staging protests and they appealed to the shopkeepers to cooperate and extend their support for the cause. But most of the shops were open as usual.
In Bengaluru, the activists gathered at the Mysore Bank circle and raised slogans holding placards.
Some activists staged a demonstration at the BMTC and KSRTC bus stand at Majestic in the state capital.
The protestors appealed to the bus drivers and conductors to support the call for Bandh. As their agitation intensified, police took them under preventive custody.
In Mysuru, some pro-Kannada activists staged a sit-in protest by blocking buses at the suburban bus stand.
They staged a dharna near the exit gate to block buses heading to Bengaluru and other parts of the state.
Some members of pro-Kannada groups were taken into preventive custody after they attempted to stop a KSRTC bus in Mysuru.
In Davangere too, the protesters took to the streets.
Sources in Belagavi said the KSRTC buses were plying as usual but there was restricted movement of buses from Maharashtra to this border town in north Karnataka, which was at the centre of the linguistic row.
Besides the attack on a bus conductor at Balekundri, Panchayat officials were abused recently in Kinaye village in Belagavi for not speaking in Marathi.
Belagavi just at the border of Maharashtra has a substantial Marathi population where the border row flares up from time to time.
The accused in both the cases were taken into custody.
Elaborate security arrangements are in place across the state with senior officers overseeing the situation on the ground to prevent any untoward incident.
According to officials, police in various districts have deployed home guards along with the City Armed Reserve unit as a precautionary measure to ensure that the bandh is observed peacefully without causing inconvenience to the public.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner B. Dayananda has warned that legal action will be taken against those found coercing people into taking part in the bandh.
He said that 60 Karnataka State Reserve Police platoons, 1,200 home guards and the entire civil and traffic police force have been deployed in Bengaluru City as a precautionary measure.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has urged people to maintain peace and abide by the law. "We will protect the interests of the state. Everyone should maintain peace and follow the law. However, I feel there is no need for a bandh," he told the reporters on Friday.
According to Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner Jagadeesha G., no holidays has been declared for schools and colleges.
On February 28, 'Kannada Okkuta,' an umbrella organisation representing various pro-Kannada groups, announced the statewide bandh from 6 am to 6 pm on March 22.
Some organisations and unions have either chosen to stay away from the bandh or have decided to offer only moral support.
A senior transport department official said that the State-owned public road transport corporations such as Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will remain functional. But depending on the situation on the ground, a decision will be taken.
According to sources, some autorickshaws, cabs and private drivers' unions, associations have extended support to the shutdown, while hotel associations, malls, bars and restaurants have only offered moral support.
Meanwhile, emergency services -- pharmacies, hospitals, and ambulance services, petrol pumps and metro services will remain operational amid the bandh.
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'Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane...': Tharoor takes dig at failed US-Iran talks in Pakistan
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New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday took a swipe at the "failed" US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan with an Urdu couplet, saying only god knows now what will happen.
"Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane; Na woh mane, na ye mane (only god knows what will happen now as both sides did not agree)," Tharoor said on X, tagging a post-talks video clip of US Vice President J D Vance, who led the American delegation at the negotiations in Islamabad.
The United States and Iran failed to reach a peace deal at their historic 21-hour talks in Pakistan, leaving the fate of a tenuous two-week ceasefire in doubt, with both sides attempting to hold each other responsible for the collapse of the negotiations.
अब क्या होगा, ये रब जाने
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 13, 2026
ना वो माने, ना ये माने https://t.co/DYrXpa7C8h
Vance said the Iranian side did not accept Washington's terms for ending the war even as the US presented its "final and best offer".
Hours after the talks collapsed, US President Donald Trump said on social media that the negotiations with Tehran failed as "Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions".
Trump said the US Navy will actively interdict any vessel in international waters found to have paid tolls to Iran for transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the head of the Iranian negotiation team, said it is for the US to decide whether it can "earn our trust or not".
The Iranian foreign ministry, without elaborating, said the US side resorted to "excessive" and "illegal demands".
The failure to reach an agreement has dimmed the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to stabilise the global energy marke
