Christian leaders accuse Mangalore police of imposing restriction on prayer gathering; top cop denies

August 27, 2011

Mangalore, August 27: The decision to “impose restrictions on the Christian Worship and prayer gatherings” by the Mangalore city Police is desperately shocking, said Walter J Maben, Chairman, Karnataka Missions Network.

Addressing a media conference here on Saturday, Mr Maben said that the police have asked the pastors to obtain fresh written permission from the Deputy Commissioner for worship or prayer meetings in places where they have been gathering for several years now. “Such draconian stipulation of getting permission for worship is unheard of anywhere in the country”, he said.

This is a clear violation of the fundamental rights of freedom of religion and also infuses fear psychosis on the already suffering Christian community, he opined.

He also mentioned that the dictate was not given in writing to the Pastors. When clarifications in matters concerning this order were sought with the police at a meeting with the Pastors, they were not allowed to speak, he said. “It was not a dialogue between parties, but a decree by the police”, he added.

“In the guise of giving us protection, we are being hounded like aliens, snatching away the freedom of worship enshrined by the Constitution of our country”, a visibly distressed Pastor said.

“If police does not resolve this matter and withdraw their verbal orders we will seek legal remedy. The prejudiced restriction imposed on the religious practices in Christians without any written instructions are flawed and completely unacceptable”, he said.

Fr Francis D'Almeida, Vice Principal, St Aloysius College, Pr Alwin Colaco of PUCL, Suresh Bhat Bakrabail of Komu Sauharda Vedike and Prashanth Jathanna, President, Chraista Okkuta were present at the press meet.

Police clarification

When contacted, Seemanth Kumar Singh, Commissioner of Police Commissioner, Mangalore, denied the allegation of imposing restriction on prayer gatherings.

However he admitted that police has asked Christian institutions to inform about any prayer gatherings in advance. The police have instructed several pastors across the region to inform the authorities so as to stop any miscreants from repeating the attacks of 2008, he said.

“It is our responsibility to give protection to any prayer gathering. There is nothing special in it,” he said.

He also said that this was a precautionary measure to stop any unwanted accidents from disrupting the normal life in the city. He ensured that there was no reason to panic.

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February 23,2020

Udupi, Feb 23: Tanushree Pithrody, a 10-year-old girl from Udyavar and class 6 student of St Cecily’s School, here and a Guinness World Record holder, erased the old record by covering the 100 metres 'Chakrasana race' in one minute 14 seconds to write her name in the Golden Book of World Records.

This was announced by Manish Bishnoi, Head, Golden Book of World Records, who handed over the Certificate to Ms Tanushree, who was accompanied by her father Uday Kumar and mother Sandhya here on Saturday.

The previous record-holder in this category was Samiksha Dogra [11 years and 1 month] from Rampur Bhushar, Himachal Pradesh, who had set a time of 6 minutes and 2 seconds on June14,2018.

Later speaking to scribes here, Ms Tanushree said that she was delighted that she was able to break the record. “When I was practicing, I used to finish it in around 2 minutes. This is my fifth record. I dedicate my success to my parents and my Yoga guru,”she added.

Ms Tanushree has also created a record for the ‘most forward rolls with Dhanurasana Yoga pose in 1 minute’ by performing 62 rolls and she also created the ‘fastest 100 forward rolls with Dhanurasana Yoga pose’ in 1 minute and 40 seconds on February 23, 2019 and entered the Golden Book of World Records.

In 2018, she set the Guinness World Record for ‘most full-body revolutions maintaining a chest stand position’ with 42 full-body revolutions in one minute, and on 21 March, 2019 she broke that record with 44.

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News Network
January 2,2020

Tumakuru, Jan 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday slammed the Congress and its allies opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act, saying they are against giving relief to those who have been brutalised and victimised in Pakistan.

"Pakistan was founded on religious grounds due to which atrocities on minorities such as Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Christians have increased. But Congress and its allies don't speak against Pakistan," he said at a function here.

He also said the Congress and its allies take out rallies and stage demonstrations against the efforts to prevent atrocities on religious lines and save women from sexual assaults.

Modi wondered why those opposed to the CAA were not speaking out against Pakistan's atrocities and asked what stopped them from doing so.

Strongly defending the CAA, he said it was adopted by Parliament in a historic move, but that the Congress and its allies and the ecosystem created by his party's rival were now against the very institution.

He said India cannot leave the Hindus, Christians and Sikhs apparently fleeing Pakistan to "their fate" and added it was the country's responsibility to protect them.

Modi pointed out that the efforts are especially to protect the Dalits and tribals in Pakistan.

The Prime Minister also pointed out that the abrogation of Article 370 was a step towards ending terrorism and uncertainty in Jammu and Kashmir.

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May 3,2020

Bengaluru, May 3: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa requested his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray to release six TMC water from his state's reservoirs to rivers in Karnataka to meet acute drinking water shortage in North Karnataka.

Yediyurappa pointed out that the North Karnataka districts, namely Belagavi, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Kalaburagi, Yadagiri and Raichur are facing acute shortage of drinking water due to onset of summer during early days of March this year.

"I request you to kindly direct the concerned authorities to release 3 TMC of water from Warna/Koyna reservoirs to Krishna river and 3 TMC of water from Ujjaini reservoir to Bhima river on humanitarian grounds for drinking purpose," Yediyurappa said in his letter.

He reminded Thackeray that even in the past the Maharashtra government had released water from its reservoirs to meet the drinking water needs of both human beings and livestock in drought-affected areas of Karnataka.

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