Two more men held in Kannur over suspected IS links

We came on foot, we came on boats, shouting slogans of Azadi.

We stood on roof tops and sat on walls under the burning midday sun,

Listening to the words that we had longed to hear for so long.

Words that had been scripted through the lonely fears of our hearts.

Words that were spoken now with the clarity of courage.

Words that were spoken now with the suppressed strength of pent up anger.

Words that were spoken now with the certainty of belonging to the soil 

Which had become one with the dust of our ancestors.

We stood there in the waves of heat

Feeling the surge and press  of countless bodies around us.

Bodies meshed through the odour of sweat 

And the shared fear of a common persecution.

And hanging from the roof tops,

And tied to the poles,

And clutched in hands slippery with sweat,

And wrapped round the pillars,

And spreading into our blood,

Were three strips of colour with a wheel of spokes,

Sewn together into the shape of our being.

Woven into the folds of our future and the creases of our past. 

Stitched to the seams of the earth, the water, the air and the sky 

That belonged to us and to which we belonged. 

And we stood there from noon to evening,

We the people of India.

Raising our clenched fists like signposts to the future.

Chanting slogans like a new anthem.

Kin to each other through the ties of community.

Born to live and die 

In a nation that was ours to hold on to

And ours to belong to.

Dr Parinitha is a professor of English in Mangalore University. She penned the poem soon after participating in the historic protest against CAA, NPR and NRC at Shah Garden, Adyar, Mangaluru on 15th January, 2020.

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Mangaluru, Jan 20: The improvised explosive device (IED) recovered from a bag at Mangaluru airport was defused in an open field by the personnel of the bomb disposal squad on Monday. 

A short while ago, the Commissioner of Police in Mangaluru, PS Harsha, narrated the incident, along with the action taken by the security personnel.

"Today at approx 9 am a suspect dropped the baggage, containing plausible explosive substances, at the Mangaluru airport. It was spotted by the security personnel and then the bomb detection and disposal team was pressed into action," Harsha told reporters here.

"The area was cordoned off and then the suspected object was taken in a threat containment vehicle to a spot for defusing the explosive device. The local police have registered an FIR in this connection based on the complaints of CISF," he added.

The Commissioner said that three teams have been formed for "identification and apprehension of the accused."
He further said that the visuals of the suspect have been shared for his identification, and urged citizens of Mangaluru and around the nation to come forward and inform the police if they have any knowledge of the accused.

"Our teams have made some breakthrough and established few preliminary facts and I am assured we will be able to trace out the execution plan of the act of sabotage," he added.

Also Read: Security beefed up at airports across country after suspicious bag found at Mangaluru airport

Mangalore, Jan 1: Under the aegis of the Dakshina Kannada District Jatyateeya Paksha Sanghatanegala Janti Vedik, Members of Congress, Communist Party of India, CPI (M), Janata Dal (Secular) and other secular organisations will stage a dharna on January 2 here demanding a judicial inquiry into the firing on December 19.

Talking to reporters on Tuesday evening, former Bantwal MLA B Ramanath Rai said the dharna will be held before the statue of B R Ambedkar, near the Town hall, from 1000 hrs to 1600 hrs.

Mr Rai said allegations are being made that the trouble in the city on December 19 was orchestrated by certain political parties and leaders. The city police are also being accused of acting under the influence of the ruling government in invoking prohibitory orders to quell the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and later firing at the protesters that led to two deaths.