UP CM too withdrew cases against him, says Karnataka Home Minister, defending move on Hubballi riots
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday defended the government's decision to withdraw cases pertaining to the 2022 Hubballi riots and claimed that even Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had dropped ones against him.
He was reacting to the BJP staging a protest at Freedom Park here against the
government's October 10 move to withdraw criminal cases registered against a mob which had attacked policemen with stones on April 16, 2022 in Hubballi town in north Karnataka.
This is one of the 43 cases the state Cabinet decided to withdraw at its meeting on Thursday following a petition by the Anjuman-e-Islam to Parameshwara, official sources said.
“After approving the proposal to withdraw the case, we have to inform the court. If the court accepts the proposal then the case will be withdrawn. If it doesn’t then the case won’t be withdrawn. We have to follow all the procedures cautiously. We cannot withdraw on our own just because someone said it,” Parameshwara told reporters here.
He claimed that BJP leaders too had withdrawn cases when they were in power in Karnataka and other states.
“The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister (Adityanath) had cases against him. He withdrew cases against him holding the Chief Minister’s post. So many cases were withdrawn,” the Minister said.
“Whom are you accusing when the system is like that? We have done it within the framework of the system,” Parameshwara said, slamming the BJP.
He said there were about 60 proposals and the government withdrew 43 cases.
“Are there only minorities in those cases? All are there – farmers, students, and ordinary citizens who took part in various agitations. If all the 43 cases were against the minorities then I agree with them. We cannot do that. We have to see everyone with equal footing,” Parameshwara explained.
When asked about the proposal to withdraw cases pertaining to the DJ Halli and KG Halli rioting in 2020, the Minister said the government will examine them as well after following the due procedure.
“I am not the only one to decide. The Chief Minister and Home Minister alone cannot do it. There are so many brains working behind it,” Parameshwara said.
At the protest site, BJP State President B Y Vijayendra, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka, former Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan and other party leaders condemned the government's move terming it "appeasement politics."
They accused the government of withdrawing cases against individuals charged with rioting and violence.
"Attempted murder and inciting riots are not trivial offenses, yet Congress prioritises vote-bank politics over justice," Vijayendra said.
By encouraging wrong-doers, the Congress government is emboldening anti-social elements and undermining public safety.
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Will do whatever we can: Iranian official on Nimisha Priya case
New Delhi, Jan 2: Iran will do whatever it can in the case of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, facing a death sentence in Yemen, a senior Iranian official said on Thursday.
Priya, hailing from Kollengode in Kerala's Palakkad district, has been found guilty of murdering a Yemeni citizen in July 2017.
The 37-year-old nurse is currently lodged in a jail in Sana'a, the Yemeni capital city that is under the control of Iran-backed Houthis.
"We will take up the issue. She seems to have been charged with manslaughter. We will do whatever we can in the case on humanitarian grounds," the Iranian official told a group of journalists in Delhi.
The Yemeni national, Talal Abdo Mahdi, reportedly died from an overdose of sedatives allegedly injected by Priya to retrieve her passport from him.
According to reports, Priya was handed capital punishment by a trial court in 2020 while Yemen's Supreme Judicial Council upheld the verdict in November 2023.
Yemen's President Rashad al-Alimi approved the death penalty to Priya a few days ago.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday said India is extending all possible help to explore relevant options in the case.
"We are aware of the sentencing of Nimisha Priya in Yemen. We understand that the family of Priya is exploring relevant options," Jaiswal said.
"The government is extending all possible help in the matter," he said.
Priya's mother, Prema Kumari, currently in Sana'a, has made an emotional appeal to the Indian government to save her daughter's life.
In a video message from Yemen, Prema Kumari urged the Centre and other authorities to intervene urgently.
"This is my final plea. She has only a few days left. Every member of the action council has worked tirelessly to raise funds. I beg the Centre and the council to do everything possible to save her life," she said.
