We are prepared for protests on Aug 5: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday said all necessary security precautions have been taken ahead of the protests planned for August 5.
Countering an agitation called by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against “vote theft” during Lok Sabha polls last year at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, the opposition BJP is also protesting at Vidhana Soudha, “to inform the public about the misleading stand of Congress”.
The day will also see state-wide protests by Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) employees.
Speaking to the reporters, the Home Minister said, “The government has the capability to handle everything. Adequate police personnel have been deployed for security. Instructions have been issued for all necessary measures.”
Parameshwara also gave more details about the Anti-Narcotic Task Force (ANTF), formed to eradicate drugs in Bengaluru city.
“They function like a task force. They act based on wherever the information comes from. We have already given specific instructions to every Superintendent of Police,” said the minister.
He also added that to make it even stronger, personnel from Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) have been transferred to ANTF.
“We have declared that there are no more Naxals in Karnataka. In that context, there was a discussion on disbanding the ANF. However, we decided to retain it and reduce the number of personnel. About 200 to 250 personnel were taken from ANF to the Special Action Force. We had taken them for Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. Now, since there was a staff shortage in Bengaluru, a few were taken from ANF. If there is a need again, we will redeploy personnel."
He also said the report of the statewide survey of Scheduled Castes (SC), overseen by Justice Nagamohan Das Commission, will be submitted to the Chief Minister on Monday.
“After that, the government will act based on the contents of the report. We undertook this with the intention of ensuring internal reservation, and we will implement it,” said the minister.
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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.
