Bengaluru: Police have booked former chief ministers Siddaramaiah and H D Kumaraswamy along with the then Bengaluru police commissioner T Sunil Kumar, his subordinates and some Congress and JD(S) leaders on sedition charges for protesting the income tax raids during Lok Sabha polls.

Based on a complaint by activist Mallikarjuna A, a city court recently directed the commercial street police to register a case under various sections of the IPC including criminal conspiracy and attempting or abetting waging war against the Government of India, police said. The case relates to protests near the I-T office here by the leaders including the then Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy against the Income Tax raids at the residence of Congress and JD(S) leaders.

The charges are that Kumaraswamy had informed public about the possible raids after getting inputs about the action. Kumaraswamy had told the media on March 27 that there was every likelihood of raids as a large number of central security forces had arrived at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).

His apprehensions came true the next day as the forces fanned out to different parts of the state. Later, a massive demonstration was conducted at the Income Tax office.

Other prominent people, who have been booked, include then deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, D K Shivakumar, Congress state chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, the then deputy commissioners of police Rahul Kumar, D Devaraju and all election officers.

Reacting to the sedition charges, D K Shivakumar said all the cases were politically motivated and he will fight it politically.

" We did not enter the income tax office. We stood 150 metres away and raised slogans," he added.

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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.