Wayanad April 13: Close on the heels of issuing press releases twice, urging people to boycott the April 23 Lok Sabha election in Wayanad, posters on the same lines were seen in Thirunelli on Saturday.
The Maoists,through press releases, that reached the Wayanad press club in Kalpetta on Sunday last and again on Thursday had urged the people to boycott the election.
The Nadukani area committee of the Western Ghat regional unit of the CPI- Maoists has issued the releases and sticked posters.
Congress leader Pawan Khera on Monday, April 29, shared a letter purportedly written by BJP leader Devaraj Gowda to the Karnataka state president of the saffron party expressing concern about the pendrive containing sleazy videos of JD(S) leader and Lok Sabha MP Prajwal Revanna.
The letter was apparently written on December 8, 2023.
The letter, written in Kannada by the Hassan BJP leader states that 2,976 clips were already with Congress leaders and would be ammo for the grand old party during the Lok Sabha elections. The letter also states that if Revanna is allowed to contest under the NDA banner, it is likely to negatively impact the BJP's image in the state.
Sharing this letter, Khera launched an attack on the BJP, asking why the party had chosen to enter into an alliance with JD(S) despite knowing about the pendrive. He also questioned the lack of action, sharing the stage with Prajwal Revanna, and asked who helped him 'escape to Germany'.
Khera also questioned PM Narendra Modi's silence on the matter. Notably, the PM has been vocal about women suffering sexual abuse elsewhere in the country, when a leader of the opposition party has been involved. Modi attacked the TMC government over Sheikh Shahjahan's actions in Sandeshkhali, which allegedly involve sexual harassment and illegal land grabbing.
The Congress leader, however, remained confident that Modi would stay mum on the Hassan sex scandal issue.
"Modi ji will be in Karnataka the entire day today. I can guarantee that he won’t find the courage to utter even a single word on this horrific case in the state wherein his alliance’s politician went around recording thousands of sex videos of several women in his pen drive, and has now absconded abroad!," Khera said on X (formerly Twitter).
While Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has ordered a special probe into the incident, the JD(S) has distanced itself from Prajwal with H D Kumaraswamy saying that while he wanted to wait for facts to come out after the probe, there was no question of forgiving someone who had committed a crime as per the law.
A sexual harassment and stalking case has been filed against former Karnataka Minister H D Revanna and his son Prajwal, who is at the centre of the Hassan scandal.
A woman complainant said that she worked in Revanna's house from 2019 for three and a half years. During her time there, Revenna allegedly misbehaved with her, as did Prajwal, according to the woman's claims. She also claimed Prajwal sexually assaulted her repeatedly.
She also claimed the MP had used obscene language with her daughter during video calls, forcing her to block the number and quit her job.
H D Revanna is the elder son of JD(S) supremo and former PM H D Deve Gowda, and Prajwal is the party patriarch's grandson.
The genocidal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has entered its 200th day, with occupation forces killing more Palestinians in defiance of widespread international outcry to end the carnage.
The aggression marked its 200th day on Tuesday with no end in sight to the Israeli war that has so far killed a shocking number of Palestinians and led to a humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory.
The Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli forces have committed three "massacres" over the past 24 hours, killing at least 32 Palestinians and wounding 59 others.
The numbers, it added, bring the Palestinian death toll to more than 34,183, with at least 77,143 injured and an estimated 7,000 missing and presumed dead since early October.
More than 14,500 children and 9,500 women are among those killed, making up over 70 percent of the victims, according to health officials.
Israel waged its brutal US-backed war on the Gaza Strip on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
Israel has been carrying out war crimes in Gaza by deliberately starving people and forcing their evacuation, as well as targeting hospitals and schools sheltering displaced Palestinians.
Despite all these atrocities, the regime has failed to achieve its declared objectives of “destroying Hamas” and finding Israeli captives held in Gaza.
The Karnataka government's decision to categorise the entire Muslim community as a backward caste for reservation purposes in the state has drawn criticism from the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), which said such blanket categorisation undermines the principles of social justice.
According to the data submitted by the Karnataka Backward Classes Welfare Department, all castes and communities within the Muslim religion have been enlisted as socially and educationally backward classes under Category IIB in the State List of Backward Classes.
The NCBC, during a field visit last year, examined the state's reservation policy for OBCs in educational institutions and government jobs.
"All castes/communities of Muslim religion of Karnataka are being treated as socially and educationally backward classes of citizens and listed as Muslim Caste separately under Category IIB in the State List of Backward Classes for providing them reservation in admission into educational institutions and in appointments to posts and vacancies in the services of the State for the purpose of Articles 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution of India," the NCBC said in a statement on Monday night.
This categorisation has led to the provision of reservation benefits for 17 socially and educationally backward castes under Category I and 19 castes under Category II-A, respectively.
The NCBC said the blanket categorisation of Muslims as a backward caste undermines the principles of social justice, particularly for the marginalised Muslim castes and communities identified as socially and educationally backward.
However, the NCBC emphasised that while there are indeed underprivileged and historically marginalised sections within the Muslim community, treating the entire religion as backward overlooks the diversity and complexities within Muslim society.
"The religion-based reservation affects and works against ethics of social justice for categorically downtrodden Muslim castes/communities and identified socially and educationally backward Muslim castes/communities under Category-I (17 Muslim castes) and Category II-A (19 Muslim castes) of State List of Backward Classes. Hence, socially and educationally backward castes/communities cannot be treated at par with an entire religion," the NCBC stated.
The NCBC also voiced concern over the impact of such reservations on the overall framework of social justice, particularly in the context of local body polls.
While Karnataka provides 32 per cent reservation to backward classes in local body elections, including Muslims, the Commission stressed the need for a nuanced approach that accounts for the diversity within these communities.
According to the 2011 Census, Muslims constitute 12.92 per cent of the population in Karnataka.
Comments
Add new comment