Won't allow anyone to go on rampage in Karnataka: Dy CM Shivakumar
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said the government will not allow anyone to take the law into their own hands in the state in the name of fighting for the Kannada language.
He was reacting to the large-scale vandalism in Bengaluru by the activists of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (Narayana Gowda faction) targeting shops and business establishments which did not have Kannada signboards, advertisements and nameplates.
"We are not against the pro-Kannada activists but they should not take law into their hands. We are not ready to accept damage caused to the properties in Bengaluru," Shivakumar told reporters here.
"We have to save Kannada and we respect those who fight for saving Kannada but that should not mean that the government will shut it's eyes to vandalism," he added.
The Deputy CM said the government directions are clear that signboards, advertisements and name plates should have 60 per cent Kannada and there is a way to implement it such as issuing notices to those violating this norm.
The protesters can stage protests and raise slogans but damaging property is not acceptable, he said.
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"We are committed to save Kannada. Even the CM has directed us to have all the communications and our official business in Kannada. He had said that the government is committed to save Kannada," Shivakumar told reporters.
To a question that T A Narayana Gowda, KRV convener, has given a warning to the government that it will face the music during the Lok Sabha elections if it does not respect the sentiments of Kannadigas, Shivakumar said let them do whatever they want in a democratic manner but vandalism is not accepted.
"Investors have come here from different parts of the world. People are living here to make their livelihood. They should not be threatened," he added.
Meanwhile, a Magistrate Court in Bengaluru has sent over 29 Kannada activists including Karnataka Rakshana Vedike president TA Narayana Gowda, to 14 days judicial custody till January 10.
They were arrested by the police on Wednesday after their protests demanding that 60 per cent of nameboards in commercial establishments to be in Kannada turned violent with the destruction of boards that were in English.
Police had detained nearly 500 activists of the KRV who went on the rampage across Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka.
Gowda was arrested along with some of his aides in Yelahanka. On Thursday at around 5 AM, he was produced before a Magistrate at his residence in Devanahalli who ordered the judicial custody of the arrested persons.
The police have registered three separate FIRs at the Chikkajala Police Station against Gowda and 28 others under Sections 188, 283, 341, 353 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code.
The allegations include assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty, wrongful restraint, mischief, cause danger, obstruction or injury to any person and disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant.
After their detention on Wednesday evening, Gowda and others were kept at the Police Driving and Maintainance School in Yelahanka before being taken for medical examination and produced before the Magistrate.
Sources said they will be shifted to the Central Jail at Parappana Agrahara in the city.
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Bangladesh's interim govt revokes ousted PM Sheikh Hasina's passport
Dhaka, Jan 7: Bangladesh's interim government on Tuesday said it has revoked the passport of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 96 others over their alleged involvement in enforced disappearances and the July killings.
Hasina, 77, has been living in India since August 5 last year when she fled Bangladesh following a massive student-led protest that toppled her Awami League's (AL) 16-year regime.
Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has issued arrest warrants for Hasina and several former Cabinet ministers, advisers, and military and civil officials for “crimes against humanity and genocide”.
Addressing a press briefing here, Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder said, "The Passports Department cancelled passports of 22 people involved in enforced disappearances, while passports of 75 people, including Sheikh Hasina, were revoked due to their involvement in the July killings.”
He, however, did not reveal the names of the remaining individuals whose passports were cancelled, the state-run BSS news agency reported.
