Women beat, set fire to effigy of Shivajinagar MLA

BENGALURU: Several hundred women came out in protest against Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad, going so far as to beat an effigy of him with chappals and set it on fire.

Hundreds of women on Sunday protested in Shivajinagar against the MLA, following a raid on a godown owned by former BBMP corporator Farida Ahmed, wherein thousands of ration kits were seized. The women alleged that the move was a way to block the ration kits being distributed by the ex-corporator during Ramzan for election reasons.

Speaking on the issue, social worker Shakeel Usmani said ration kits had been distributed during festivals to the women for as long as 20 years. “During festivals, including Ramzan, these ration kits are distributed to the women. However, following the raid, which was conducted on Saturday night, the women have begun protesting against the MLA as this will mean that ration kits will not be distributed during Ramzan, which is set to begin in a few days,” he said. 

Several women thrashed an effigy of the MLA, with a banner of his face attached to it, with their chappals. This was also followed by the women setting the effigy on fire. Arshad hit back at the protesters, calling the protest purely political. “The protest has turned political as locals feel that the motive behind the raid itself is political. However, I was not aware of the raid until today as I was involved in several programmes on Saturday,” he said.