“State government is using police to suppress us”, claim pro-Kannada groups
Bengaluru: Pro-Kannada organizations in Bengaluru are organizing a 12-hour nationwide bandh throughout the state in protest over the claimed attack on a bus conductor in Belagavi for not speaking Marathi. The pro-Kannada organizations claim the state police are stopping them.
On Saturday, pro-Kannada activist Ravi Shetty Byndoor, Chairman of the Labour Council, said that the state government is suppressing them via the Police.
“The government is suppressing us via the Police. Vatal Nagaraj has invited a bandh. Many have so freely stepped forward to participate in a bandh. Here we are meant to persuade the bus drivers and operators. But they’re stopping us. The government is notifying us after not one but several times. What are we, goons? The event will get underway at eleven in the morning. The Labour Council Chairman, a pro-Kannada activist, told reporters, “We will take out the rally from Town Hall to Freedom Park.”
Several pro-Kannada organizations have declared a bandh in the state today between six am and six pm. Police officials have been sent to Hassan as a precaution as regular everyday operations go on.
Passengers were pictured queuing at a Bengaluru bus terminal among pro-Kannada organizations’ 12-hour statewide bandh in protest over the claimed attack on a bus operator in Belagavi for not speaking Marathi.
Earlier, the Karnataka Private Schools Union offered moral support; other unions said Examinations are under progress in several areas, including Bengaluru, and no vacations have been announced and did not support the bandh. Private colleges would also stay open similarly.
“The bandh does not have our organization’s approval. In a statement, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike State President TA Narayana Gowda declared the company would not engage in any kind of bandh.
He further said that when an official was assaulted, Belagavi had massive demonstrations. Additionally apparently suppressed was a bogus POCSO case; the inspector who recorded the case was relocated. The police commissioner has confirmed, nevertheless, that a bandh is not required.
Schools and colleges, marketplaces, hospitals, Metro services, BMTC and KSRTC buses will all operate as normal. Additionally open will be restaurants, motels, taverns, and pubs.
The bandh has been organized as Kannada organizations demand rigorous punishment against those accountable for violence directed at Kannadigas and policies to stop similar events in the future.
