I-T raids continue at D K Shivakumar’s properties; over 40 locations searched

Madikeri, Mar 29: In an alarming situation in neighbouring Kerala State and instances of inter-state migration of Coronavirus suspects, the authorities on Sunday sealed both Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu borders, prohibiting entry of people from Kerala into Karnataka.

Dakshina Kannada had sealed its borders after repeated instances of people misusing ambulance services to travel to Mangalore. Villagers along with the police hauled mud on to the roads that were used as alternate routes.

The road that connects the two States, which people from east Kasargod used to enter into Karnataka, were closed at Mulleria by dumping mud on the road.

Bengaluru, Feb 21: Amulya Leona, a college student, who raised to pro-Pakistan slogans to embarrass organisers of a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) here on Thursday evening, has been charged with sedition.

The student-activist, who was allowed to talk on stage, suddenly raised pro-Pakistan slogans. She was arrested by police after All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi snatched her mike.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Ramesh Bannoth confirmed the girl has been charged with sedition, provoking enmity between groups, and intentional insult to provoke breach of peace.

It was just after Mr. Owaisi’s arrival on the stage at Freedom Park here that the 19-year-old student was asked to speak. After preliminary remarks, she suddenly shouted “Pakistan zindabad” thrice, leaving the crowd and organisers stunned.

Some of the organisers rushed to her and tried to take the mike away and stop her from speaking further. Mr. Owaisi too joined in and snatched the mike. Holding on to the mike, the girl then went on to shout “Hindustan zindabad” twice, before a posse of police personnel and organisers whisked her away from the stage

Soon after the student was taken away, a visibly upset Mr. Owaisi told the crowd: “Whatever has been spoken [by the girl] is wrong. Neither my party nor I has any connection with it. As long as we are alive, we will be raising Bharat zindabad slogans. Never had we any relationship with Pakistan nor will we have anything in future,” he announced.

He further stated: “This is condemnable. The organisers should not have invited such people to this place. If I had known that these kind of things would be said here, I would not have come here.”

It is unfortunate that the organisers have invited such people and a wrong message is going out, he said. “Now, BJP has got an opportunity and will blame me,” he added.

Every speaker, who took the podium after the incident, condemned the pro-Pakistan slogans raised by Amulya.

Janata Dal (S) councillor representing Gurappanapalya, Imran Pasha, one of the organisers of the protest under “Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isayi Federation”, claimed that they had not invited the “activist” and were not aware that she would be speaking from the stage. Mr. Pasha said that such statements were “a deliberate attempt to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims”.

Meanwhile, the BJP State unit tweeted, “Truth is that protests against CAA are a joint venture between Pakistan and anti-National forces led by INC India.” In a press release, BJP State unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel termed this as an “anti-national act” and urged the police to take action.

Bengaluru, Feb 28: Historian S. Shettar, 85, breathed his last early on February 28 in Bengaluru. He was suffering from respiratory problems and was hospitalised for over a week.

Shettar was known for his multi-disciplinary work, encompassing linguistics, epigraphy, anthropology, the study of religions and art history. He had extensively worked on the Jain practice of ritual death in Karnataka and Asoka edicts. He had studied and compiled early edicts in Kannada and worked extensively on the growth of Kannada language down the ages.

Born in 1935 at Hampasagara, Ballari district, he went on to study at Cambridge University and started his career as a Professor of History at Karnatak University, Dharwad, his alma mater. He later headed the National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology in 1978 and Indian Council for Historical Research in 1996. He was also a visiting professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru.

He was a bilingual historian who wrote in English for most of his career, but started writing in Kannada in later years. In the last two decades, he developed a keen interest in linguistics and wrote multiple books on classical Kannada and Prakrit. His 2007 book “Shangam Tamilagam” is considered a seminal work in the study of the early period of Dravidian languages. It won him Bhasha Samman from Central Sahitya Akademi. He later wrote two works on Halegannada, classical Kannada. His most recent work was “Prakrita Jagadvalaya” in 2018.