Sringeri: Religious flag on Shankaracharya Statue; Accused Milind arrested
Sringeri: Police on Friday arrested one person for putting a religious banner near the statue of Shankaracharya here on Thursday, an incident that had triggered protests by BJP and other right-wing organizations.
The arrested accused has been identified as Milind, son of Manohar.
Tension had prevailed in the region on Thursday after a banner with religious content was found on the statue. The BJP and other organisations, while protesting against the incident had called for immediate arrest of the culprits.
Superintendent of Police Hakay Akshay Machindra on Friday in a press conference played down the claims and allegations that it was a pre-planned incident and was carried with any motives. He asserted that the arrested accused was under the influence of alcohol. He said the accused was presented before the court.
“On Wednesday night, Milind drunk at a bar and then headed near Jamia Masjid in the city and tried to sleep there. He then decided not to sleep near the Masjid and moved from there while also taking a banner from near the Masjid to cover himself as it was raining that night. He came near Veerappa Gowda circle with the banner and dropped it near the statue of Shankaracharya and slept at the lorry yard” the SP said in the press conference adding that Milind had visited local government hospital on Thursday morning complaining of headache.
“He was identified after checking the CCTV footages of Masjid and the bar. He has confessed to the crime and has added that he had done it under the influence of alcohol. No involvement of any organisation, party was found in the incident and the accused is not a member of any party or organisation” he further said.
On Thursday, after the incident, former minister Jeevaraj had alleged involvement of PFI and SDPI members in the incident.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
