Chief Minister Siddaramaiah justified the arrest of Srikanth Poojari, a kar sevak (volunteer) who was allegedly involved in violence after the Babri masjid demolition in 1992, in Hubballi. He said that wrongdoers cannot be spared, and the action did not stem from vendetta.
“What should be done to offenders? Can they be allowed to go scot-free? We have asked the police to dispose of old cases. We don’t resort to hate politics. The police have acted upon the directions of the court. We never do anything that would lead to the arrest of innocents,” Mr Siddaramaiah said in his brief interaction with journalists at Basapur airstrip in Koppal on January 2.
Hubballi Dharwad Police Commissioner Renuka Sukumar has said that the arrest of Srikanth Poojari in connection with a case of violence in Hubballi on December 5, 1992, is part of a routine process to trace accused persons in long-pending cases.
On January 1, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok had accused the Congress government of arresting workers of Hindutva organisations at a time when the Ram temple in Ayodhya is being inaugurated, and warned of protests by BJP against such arrests.
Demand for holiday
Responding to the BJP’s demand for declaring holiday on the day of Ram Mandir inauguration, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that he was not aware of it and added that Union Government, which was organising the event, should declare the holiday.
“Union Government is organising the event and let it declare holiday... I don’t know who are invited and who are not. Those interested will go and those who are not interested will not go,” he said.
To a question on drought relief, Mr. Siddaramaiah said his government had already announced the relief of ₹ 2000 to every drought-hit farmers and the process of crediting the relief in the bank accounts of the beneficiaries would shortly be commenced.
When asked on the agitation of guest lecturers, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the demand for regularisation of their services was difficult. “We have already talked to them [the guest lecturers]. Yet they are agitating through Padayatra [walk on foot]. They demand to regularise their services to make them permanent staff which is difficult,” he said.
