Basheer had saved me from assailants in Saudi 25 years ago, recalls his Hindu neighbor

coastaldigest.com news network
January 8, 2018

Mangaluru, Jan 8: 50-year-old Prabhakar, a resident of Akash Bhavan locality in the city left shell-shocked after hearing the death news of his best friend and neighbor Ahmed Basheer on Sunday.

48-year-old, Basheer, who was running a fast food restaurant near Koattara Chowki for past one year breathed his last on January 7 at a hospital, four days after a gang of four miscreants attacked him with sharp weapons on January 3. The attack took place at around 9:30 p.m. when he was returning home after closing his restaurant. Ironically, the only reason for the attack was that he appeared like a Muslim. The assailants, who wanted to kill a Muslim man, did not even know the name of the victim. Two ambulance drivers, who saw Basheer lying in a pool of blood, had shifted him to a hospital.

After working in Saudi Arabia for around 25 years Basheer had quit his job and settled in Mangaluru in 2016 as his family forced him to stop working abroad. Later he had purchased a house in Akash Bhavan and opened a fast food restaurant in partnership with one of his relatives.

Both in Saudi Arabia and Mangaluru he had friends from different faiths. Prabhakar, who belongs to Hindu community is one among them. He is not only a neighbor of Basheer in Mangaluru, but also had worked with him for 15 years in the Arab Kingdom.

Prabhakar recalls that Basheer had saved him from a group of expatriate Muslims, who wanted to attack him in 1993 in Saudi Arabia.

“The intended attack was, perhaps, in retaliation for communal violence in Dakshina Kannada district after demolition of Babri mosque. It had spread its ugly wings to the gulf nation as well. I was cornered by a group of assailants. But, Basheer stood by my side and warned the assailants of dire consequences if they tried to harm me,” Prabhakar said.

"Prabhakar is our man, nobody dare touch him," a teary-eyed Prabhakar recalled Basheer as saying when the mob came to attack him. “The group eventually left and it is because of him my life was saved,” he added.

“Basheer was known for humanity. He mingled freely with all people, irrespective of their caste or religion. He never sent anyone who approached him for financial help empty-handed. His loss is huge shock to me and my family,” said Prabhakar.

Comments

mohammad.n
 - 
Tuesday, 9 Jan 2018

Thank you Mr. Prabhakar, people like you make us feel that we have peace loving hindu friends around us. That was a brotherly gesture in humanity. I hope such relations increase so that evil minded people get decreased.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Students and teachers from various colleges in Bengaluru gathered at the Town Hall in the city to protest against the violence which broke out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi on January 5.

The students raised slogans against Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Police.

Placards that read 'The more you attack, the stronger we become', 'Take off your masks terrorist', 'With JNU' were seen during the protest.

"We are here to protest against the incident that took place at JNU with our brothers and sisters. What Delhi Police did was shameful and they should have taken charge of the situation long before and not waited for three hours. We stand with JNU," Nisha, a protestor told ANI.

Professors present at the protest expressed regret over the incident and said attacks on the universities is a sick situation in the country.

"This is sick, where have we come to -- violence in the universities? I was so safe when I was studying in college; what we are giving to our students is horrible," said Sangeeta, a professor present at the protest.

Politicians, cutting across party lines, have condemned the attack on students in JNU and demanded strict action against those found guilty.

More than 18 students were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre after a masked mob entered the JNU campus and attacked them and some professors with sticks and rods.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 9,2020

Bengaluru, May 9: A three-year-old boy was killed by a leopard in the early hours of Saturday in Magadi taluk near Bengaluru.

According to police, the boy identified as C Hemanth, was sleeping with his parents - Chandrasekhar and Mangalagowramma - outside his grandfather Chikkanna's residence at Kadaraiana Palya.

The couple, residents of Dodderi, near Big Banyan Tree (Dodda Alada Mara), had been staying at Chikkanna's [Mangalagowramma's father] residence since past a few days following the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic in Bengaluru.

Some of the family members, with the child, had slept outside the residence on Friday as the temperature was high. The feline might have taken the child between 1.30 a.m. and 4 a.m., and killed it on the outskirts of the village, said the sources.

After a frantic search, family members and villagers found the mutilated body of the child in the early hours. The leopard had left the partially devoured body on the outskirts of the village, added the sources.

According to the villagers, many felines have been prowling in the area, probably arriving from forests around Magadi and attached areas, for the last several weeks.

The Forest Department officials said that they have launched an exercise to trap the animal by placing cages with live baits.

According to preliminary investigations, the child was killed by a leopard. Pugmarks were found near the body. A detailed investigation and post-mortem report will find the exact cause for the death.

The incident has sent shockwaves in the vicinity of the village. According to the sources, people are planning to launch a protest to condemn the killing of the boy.

Minister for Forest and Environment B.S. Anand Singh has announced a compensation of ₹7.5 lakh to the family of the victim.

Accompanied by Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha member D.K. Suresh, Magadi legislator Manjunath and senior officials, Mr. Singh visited the place on Saturday morning.

Addressing media persons, he said that the department has decided to start combing operations for the leopard.

Mr. Suresh said the leopard might have come from Thippagondanahalli reservoir's catchment area on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The leopard has already tasted the blood of the child and hence the department should initiate immediate action [as the chances of the feline becoming a man-eater is high, Mr. Suresh added.

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News Network
June 25,2020

New Delhi, Jun 25: The Central government submitted before the Supreme Court on Thursday that the remaining class 10 and 12 CBSE exams, which were earlier rescheduled to be held between July 1 to July 15 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been cancelled.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), informed a three-judge bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar that the remaining class 10 and 12 CBSE exams scheduled to be held in July have been cancelled.

Delhi, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu have conveyed their inability to conduct the examinations, Mehta said.

The bench asked whether class 12 students were being given the option to either get marks on the internal assessment basis or appear for an exam later, to which the Mehta responded in the affirmative.

CBSE exams for class 10 students stand cancelled, Mehta said and added that they don't have to give any examinations. Mehta further submitted that as soon as conditions are conducive, CBSE exams for class 12 students, who opt for it, will be conducted.

The apex court was hearing a petition, filed by advocate Rishi Malhotra, seeking directions to cancel the remaining CBSE exams in view of the health risk of coronavirus infection. The apex court was also hearing a similar petition regarding the ICSE exams.

Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), through its counsel Jaideep Gupta, also informed the court that it will also cancel the class 10 and 12 board exams. However, it submitted that it does not agree to give the option to students to give the exam later.

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