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Shivamogga clashes: Siddaramaiah asks why 'put up poster of Savarkar in...'
Congress leader Siddaramaiah said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was indulging in double-standard politics while speaking about the communal clashes in Karnataka's Shivamogga area.
Congress veteran and leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah on Tuesday asked why was a poster of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was put up and 18th Century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan's portrait removed in a minority-dominated area in Shivammogga that led to communal clashes in the area.
According to inputs shared by news agency ANI, he alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was indulging in double-standard politics.
Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah hit out at chief minister Basavaraj Bommai for discriminating over disbursing of compensation to victims of communal violence. In a series of tweets, he said that while Bommai met the family of BJP youth with leader Praveen Nettaru who was killed by unidentified motorbike-borne assailants late in July, he did not meet or pay any compensation to the kin of Masood and Fazil – both of whom were also victims of communal violence.
His statement came as state home minister Araga Jnanendra held a meeting with the additional director general of police (law and order), Alok Kumar, and other senior police officers in Shivamogga a day after the clashes. Following the meeting, Jnanendra said there is nothing wrong in installing a poster of Savarkar who had fought for the country's freedom, while adding nobody should take law into their owns hands.
Also read | Praveen Nettaru murder a revenge for Muslim man’s killing: Officials
Police have said prohibitory orders issued under Section 144 of the CrPC that were imposed on Monday evening in Shivamogga after two groups had a face-off over installing pictures of Savarkar and Tipu Sultan would remain in place till Thursday.
Meanwhile, four persons have been arrested for stabbing a garment shop employee during the violence. The injured person, a resident of Rajasthan, is undergoing treatment at a hospital. The man works as an employee of the shop where the two groups clashed over putting up the pictures of Savarkar and Tipu Sultan. Singh was not involved in the clashes, police said.
