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Mysuru, Jan 20: Fears over CAA and proposed NRC have affected the ongoing 7th economic census. Following complaints of violence against enumerators and registration of FIR with people declining to give information, the state government has asked deputy commissioners and superintendents of police to hold awareness programmes about it.

The planning, programme monitoring & statistics department has requested the home department to provide cooperation at the police station level while additional chief secretary P Ravi Kumar, in his letter to all DCs, has asked them to create awareness. According to sources, enumerators in T Narasipura town of Mysuru district faced resistance as some residents misunderstood the reason for this census.

A senior officer of the directorate of economics and statistics said that additional chief secretary (ACS- Planning, Programme Monitoring & Statistics Department) Shalini Rajneesh has written to the home department and superintendents of police of all districts seeking their help to create awareness about the economic census.

According to sources in the directorate, in many places, people are refusing to share information under the misconception that it is related to CAA/ NRC. “Many are mistaken about the economic census. As a precaution, police help has been sought,” an officer said.

Authorities in Mysuru said the 7th economic census began on December 20 and will conclude on March 30.

“In Mysuru city alone, we need to cover a population of 11 lakh. In T Narasipura, we faced problems due to misconceptions about Census and CAA. We reported the incident which happened in an area where minorities reside in large numbers,” he explained. Mysuru SP CB Rishyanth said his office has not received any direction in this matter.

Bidar, Jan 31: In a disturbing development, the police have arrested two women – a schoolteacher and mother of two students – in connection with staging a play against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens at a prestigious school in Karnataka’s Bidar.

The arrested have been identified as Farida Begum, headmistress of Shaheen Urdu Medium Primary School, and Navida, the mother of a student who played a role in the play.

The development comes days after police filed a sedition case against the management of Shaheen School following a complaint lodged by the ABVP claiming that play contained objectionable dialogues against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The drama was performed during an annual function of the school on January 21.

Bidar SP Sreedhara T confirmed the arrest of Farida Begum and Navida, and said the accused were remanded to judicial custody on Thursday.

Sreedhara said that based on the complaint by one Neelesh Rakshal, the police filed an FIR under sedition charges, initially against the headmistress and management of the school on Saturday. He said that the police have questioned about 50 people, including the members of the management committee of Shaheen Urdu Medium Primary School, staff of the school, audience, parents and students. Based on the statements and evidence, the headmistress and the parent have been arrested.

The SP said that as per the statements and evidence collected, they came to know that the headmistress played a major role in organising the controversial play. The students practised the drama for a week and the headmistress knew about its script containing controversial dialogues against the Prime Minister and senior BJP leaders.

Considering this, she has been booked for creating communal disharmony and abetting sections. The SP said that when a dialogue of slapping the Prime Minister was said on the stage, Navida gave her chappals to the child, to be used while saying the dialogue. She has been arrested for abetting.

Expressing shock over sedition case and arrests, Dr Abdul Qadeer, the chairman of Shaheen Group of Institutions, said that the school management would fight out legally.

About Shaheen Group

Founded by Dr Abdul Qadeer, Shaheen Group has spread its wings through nine states of India and runs 43 institutions and related units. It has also been running a unique course for Huffaz named as ‘Hifz Ul Quran Plus’ in which Huffaz are prepared to appear and excel in competitive exams (NEET-JEE(IIT)).

According to Dr Qadeer, Shaheen’s mission is to engage, educate and empower wards, equipping them with strengths to enter the world of opportunities through free education across various domains in state- owned academic centers of excellence.

The group also runs coaching centers for medical and engineering entrance examinations. So far 1,200 students from the Shaheen Group of institutions got seats in government medical colleges, he said.

‘Hifz Ul Quran Plus’ course was for huffaz between 12 and 17 years. A four-year integrated course is conducted for Huffaz-E-Karam for getting students modern education. By pursuing this course and by appearing in competitive exams (NEET-IIT JEE), Huffaz will be able to get admission into MBBS, BE, & MBA, he said.

Mangaluru, Mar 5: As many as 29 police officers and personnel were examined by Udupi Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha, head of the magisterial enquiry into the police firing in the city in December 2019 which killed two anti- Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protesters.

A total of 176 police personnel have been directed to present their evidence before the magistrate for the enquiry.

ACPs K U Belliappa and Kodandarama presented his evidence on Wednesday, while ACP (central sub division) M Jagdish and ACP (traffic) M Manjunatha Shetty submitted their evidencein writing.

The next hearing is slated to be held on March 9 when statements of 41 officers including DCP (law and order) Arunangshu Giri will be recorded.

City police commissioner P S Harsha has been asked to submit his evidence on March 12, Jagadeesha said.

The enquiry report is to be submitted to the government on March 23.

Jagadeesha said he will seek an extension in the case of any delay in the recording of evidences.

Two people - Nausheen and Jaleel - were killed in the firing on December 19, 2019 during the protests here against the CAA.

The Karnataka government had decided to hold a CID probe and a magisterial enquiry into the incident.