Kumaraswamy releases video on Mangaluru violence; raises suspicion, blames police and BJP govt
Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) Karnataka President HD Kumaraswamy on Friday released a 25 minutes’ video showing visuals of how things panned out on December 19 in Mangaluru when the anti-CAA, NRC Protest turned violent in the city and claimed two lives as a result of police action.
Kumaraswamy, during a press meet held in JP Bhavan in Bengaluru, claimed that the video footage raised suspicion over the possible involvement of the police in the violence.
"Who empowered the Mangaluru police to open fire on protesters? The government and the police were wrong in doing so" said Kumaraswamy, who released 35 video clips (in a compact disc) of the police firing.
Slamming Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, Kumaraswamy reminded that Yediyurappa had become the chief minister to resolve problems of the people of Karnataka and not to please “his bosses in Delhi”. Kumaraswamy alleged innocent persons were also lathi-charged by the police during the clashes and that it was violation of human rights.
"Both the CM and police commissioner have different versions of the circumstances that led to the firing. The CM claimed police station was being attacked. But the police claimed the protesters were near a shop. The police station has the 360-degree camera. Has the camera not captured the alleged attack on the police station by protesters?" asked Kumaraswamy, also ridiculing the government for withholding the compensation announced for the victim's families.
The BJP came down heavily on Kumaraswamy, alleging he was trying to disturb peace by making baseless allegations. “The incident is being investigated and the videos of the attack on the police station and the violence... stone-pelting by miscreants, attack on police armoury and damaging CCTVs is all in the public domain. Kumaraswamy is trying to protect KFD and PFI members," said BJP MLA Harish Poonja.
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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.”
