The dawn-to-dusk bandh was total and peaceful as all shops and business establishments were closed. The town wore a deserted look throughout the day and hardly any traffic or pedestrians were seen on roads.
Though a couple of auto-rickshaws and tempos were seen in some corners, there was no one to hire them. A few of women fish vendors were trying to sell fish in market, but to their disappointment, there were no buyers.
All the schools and colleges also remained closed. The young activists deployed by Tanzeem to supervise the bandh were seen busy on streets in all parts of the town throughout the day.
Leaders of Tanzeem had requested the people to maintain peace and not to indulge in any violent act even if somebody tried to provoke them.
Security was beefed up in the entire town and surrounding areas. A senior police officer of Uttara Kannada district said that the bandh was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from any part of the coastal town.
“The situation throughout the day was absolutely peaceful. We had tightened the security at all strategic points including bus stand”, he said.
Various political and social organisations had extended support to the bandh including Congress, JD(S), CPI (M), Contactors Association, Rotary Club, Bhatkal Citizen Forum and Auto-rickshaw Drivers Association.
The Bandh was aimed at exerting pressure on the authorities to take action against the communal and anti-social journalists, who had portrayed Muslims of Bhatkal as terrorists through a malicious report published in 'Kannada Prabha' daily newspaper on September 2. The report also targeted eight Masjids of the town.
Related:
'Media crusade against Bhatkal Muslims': Tazneem calls for bandh on Thursday
False media reports: Bhatkal Tanzeem urges MLA to raise issue in Assembly
'Bhatkal not a terror hub': Police clarify at protest meet against reports in media
Bhatkal team complains to Chidambaram about 'malicious' reports
Times of India makes a U-turn on 'Bhatkal RDX dump' report, says sorry
Mangaluru, Jan 11: Reacting to the recent video clippings provided to the media by former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy in connection with the December 19 unrest in Mangaluru, city Police Commissioner Dr PS Harsha on Saturday said that the video has to be seen in a proper sequence to come to a conclusion on the happenings of that day.
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