Tight security, extra vigil for I-Day celebrations in Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Aug 14: Security has been stepped and vigil heightened in Bengaluru in view of celebration of the country's 72nd Independence Day, police said on Tuesday.
"About 1,800 policemen have been deployed at the Manekshaw parade ground here for security of the public and VIPs participating in the I-Day celebrations on Wednesday," city Police Commissioner T. Sunil Kumar told reporters here.
Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will unfurl the Tricolour here, receive salute from the armed forces and address the people in the presence of dignitaries, invitees and officials.
"The surrounding area has been sanitised and movement of people and vehicles will be monitored. Vehicular traffic will be restricted around the ground and parking has been banned till afternoon," said Kumar.
Nine Deputy Commissioners of Police and 16 ACPs will oversee the security measures and keep vigil in and around the ground.
"In addition to the policemen, nine platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police, five of the City Armed Reserve force and two Quick Reaction Teams have been stationed at vital installations and sensitive areas in the state capital to prevent untoward incidents and maintain law and order," reiterated Kumar.
The police has also installed 50 surveillance cameras, four baggage scanners at the entry gates and pressed dog and bomb-detection squads.
Visitors to the event have been advised not to carry water bottles, eatables, video and still cameras, radios and helmets.
Special Force commandos have also been deployed to secure the state Secretariat (Vidhana Soudha) in the city centre.
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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.
