BENGALURU: Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara came out in support of Amnesty International India on Saturday and said the human rights group was never involved in anti-national activities.
The NGO is currently facing sedition charges over anti-India and anti-army slogans allegedly being raised during an event held by it in Bengaluru.
“Amnesty International is not new to Bengaluru; this organisation has been functioning here for a long time. I don’t know nor I have heard in the past about it (Amnesty) or anyone from it involving in any anti-national activities,” Parameshwara said.
“They (Amnesty) organised a programme about army’s excesses in Kashmir. They had called a few families (from Kashmir) to console them and give them some sort of mental support, in which certain incidents took place about which an FIR has been registered,” he said.
ABVP activists had submitted a CD containing video recording of the event after filing a complaint with police,
Criticising BJP and ABVP for holding protests, Parameshwara said now that an FIR had been registered, ABVP were holding protests on the streets.
“What is your culture? What are you trying to do? What kind of society are you trying to build? They (protesters) are students, they are not aware of anything, those who had gone for classes are being brought forcefully (to protest), this is BJP’s culture,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“What is your culture? What are you trying to do? What kind of society are you trying to build? They (protesters) are students, they are not aware of anything, those who had gone for classes are being brought forcefully (to protest), this is BJP’s culture,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}During one such protest in front of the organisation’s office on Saturday, police resorted to a mild lathi charge, during which a few students were injured.