MANGALURU: The dawn-to-dusk hartal call given by the BJP and other saffron groups for Saturday against the participation of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a communal harmony rally organised by Left groups saw mixed response in Dakshina Kannada district. But the response was total in Mangaluru city, where the rally was held.
There were stray instances of violence, with two KSRTC buses damaged due to stone pelting by miscreants at Thumbay near B C Road in Bantwal.
Nine activists of right-wing organisations were arrested as they tried to enforce hartal. Subhash Padeel, a key accused in home stay attack case, was detained as a precautionary measure.
Meanwhile Pinarayi Vijayan addressed a public meeting at Nehru Maidan amid tight security and said he would not be cowed down by threats from saffron groups. He thanked the Karnataka government for facilitating his visit.
He said, “The RSS has no ideology of its own. Its ideology is based on policies pursued by fascist dictators like Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.”
“All leaders who organised the hartal to prevent me from attending rally were behind the murder of BJP leader Pratap Poojary,” he claimed.