Hindu-Muslim wedding: Radicals try to impose bandh despite nod denial

Bengaluru, Feb 22: Student activist Amulya Leona, who was arrested on sedition charge after she raised ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans during an anti-CAA event at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on Thursday evening, has now criticised the organisers of the event for snatching away microphone from her hand.

The event was organised by ‘Hindu Muslim Sikh Isaai Federation’. Soon after she started pro-Pak slogans All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi rushed and tried to snatch mic from her hand. When she continued to speak, her microphone was deactivated.

According to police, the 19-year-old BA journalism student blamed her predicament on the organisers of the protest for not allowing her to complete what she wanted to say on stage.

"Maybe she had intended to say what she had recently posted on her Facebook page where she has said ‘Zindabad’ to all the countries, including India and Pakistan. But it went awry. She was not answering any of our questions, but kept saying she had not done anything wrong," a senior police officer was quoted as saying by a news paper.

The police have booked Leona for sedition and promoting enmity between groups. After her arrest, she was thoroughly questioned by the police for over two hours. After recording her statement, the police produced her before a magistrate in the wee hours of Friday. When she was taken to the judge’s residence, located at the National Games Village in Koramangala, Leona pointed towards the TV cameras and flashed a victory sign.

As the police did not seek her custody, the judge remanded her to judicial custody and she was subsequently taken to Bengaluru Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara. Her advocate is expected to file a bail application in the court on Monday.

When the police took her into custody at Freedom Park and quizzed her, she reportedly did not answer any of their questions but kept insisting that she had not done anything anti-national to be charged with sedition.

"It was the organisers’ mistake to snatch the mike from me before I completed what I had to say. Because of them, I have been arrested today. If they had given me a chance to complete what I had to say, nothing like this would have happened. Now, there is no point in telling you what I intended to speak there. But I can say that there was nothing anti-national in what I did. You can initiate action against me and my advocate will fight the case," a source, citing Leona, said.

The police recorded whatever she said as her voluntary statement and submitted it to the magistrate. "We tried to find out why she did what she did and whether there was anyone else behind her making such a statement. But it appears she had done it on her own," the police official said.

Bengaluru, May 25: Helpless dairy farmers in a village in Bangaluru Rural district have dumped around 4,000 litres of milk into drains and on anthills.

The shocking incident took place at Chikka Korati near Hoskote yesterday after the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) refused to collect the milk because a pregnant woman in the village had tested positive for Covid-19.

The village was sealed off three days ago and three of the woman’s family was sent to institutional quarantine. The incident is an embarrassment since the government has been urging people not to stigmatise patients or their contacts.

“In Hoskote taluk, we lead in milk production,” Guru Korati, a villager, said. “There are around 130 families in the village, but we have two milk producers’ cooperative societies (MPCSs) – Chikka Korati MPCS and Dinne Korati MPCS. Our village produces more than 4,000 litres per day. The KMF refused to collect milk from both societies after they learnt about the positive case. Frustrated, we poured the milk down the drain.”

Guru wanted the government to address the village’s problems. “We are not only struggling to sell milk, but we also cannot transport vegetables which we cultivate,” he said.

Veerabhadrappa, from Chikka Korati in Bayala Narasapura gram panchayat, said: “Several families have cows enough to yield more than 50 litres of milk. What will they do with such a huge quantity of milk?”

Mehaboob Sab, panchayat development officer (PDO) of Bayala Narasapura GP, said, “We aren’t sure how the woman contracted Covid-19. A family member had visited Tamil Nadu and the woman also frequently visited a hospital in Kolar for checkups. We are still tracing her contacts.” 

Bengaluru, Jun 17: The Congress on Wednesday decided to field senior party leader B K Hariprasad and incumbent Naseer Ahmed as candidates for the coming legislative council polls in Karnataka.

"The Congress President Sonia Gandhi has approved the proposal for the candidature of B K Hariprasad and Naseer Ahmed as Congress candidates to contest the biennial elections to the Legislative Council of Karnataka to be elected by the MLAs," the AICC said in a release.

The election is necessitated as the term of seven MLCs- Naseer Ahmed, Jayamma, M C Venugopal, N S Bose Raju, H M Revanna (all Congress), T A Sharavana (JDS) and independent D U Mallikarjuna- will end June 30.

Polling will be held on June 29 to fill seven MLC berths, and June 18 is the last date for filing of nominations.

While the BJP is in a position to win four out of seven seats, the Congress can win two and the JD(S) one.

Twenty-eight valid votes of MLAs are required for each candidate to win.

Hariprasad’s candidature has been announced as his tenure in the Rajya Sabha is coming to end on June 25.

He has also served as general secretary of the party.

Naseer Ahmed, who is retiring as MLC on June 30, will be seeking another term.

According to state Congress president D K Shivakumar, more than 200 aspirants have sought tickets for the two seats that the party can win in the legislative council polls.