Minister K S Eshwarappa receives threat calls over CAA, security upped
Bengaluru, Jan 5: Karnataka Rural Development Minister K S Eshwarappa has received threat calls asking him to stop issuing statements on Article 370 and CAA, following which security for him has been tightened.
The threat calls were received on Friday, police said.
Speaking to reporters in Shivamogga on Sunday, Eshwarappa quoted the caller as having said, "You are talking too much about article 370 and CAA, if you don't stop in 48 hours, we know what to do."
He said he did not want to go into the details and would inform officials, based on which they will take action against the culprits.
Terming it as a cowardly act, the minister said, "I know hundreds of such calls will come when you are marching ahead with nationalist agenda."
"Let them go before the people and tell what we are doing is wrong.. I cannot be cowed down by such threats, come we can openly debate, but don't indulge in such a cowardly act," he said, adding police have provided him adequate security.
Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai had said the calls were from unknown numbers from Tamil Nadu.
Police officials have been asked to trace out the calls and take all necessary action, he had said.
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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.”
