BELAGAVI: The defiling of a Chhatrapati Shivaji statue in Bengaluru on Friday midnight followed by the desecration of two statues of Sangolli Rayanna on Friday night and early hours of Saturday in Belagavi have sparked protests and violence along the Karnataka-Maharashtra border.
Soon after a video clip of the desecration of the Shivaji statue went viral on social networking sites, violent incidents broke out in Belagavi as an angry mob of pro-Hindu outfits vandalised public properties besides damaging a large number of vehicles, including those belonging to the police.
An unidentified group of miscreants damaged the Sangolli Rayanna statue at Angol in Belagavi and later another of his statue was desecrated at Sulaga, near Belagavi on Saturday. To contain violence and to prevent the situation from going out of hand, Belagavi Police Commissioner Tyagarajan imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC in Belagavi from Saturday morning till 6 am on Monday. The police registered three cases and arrested 27 activists.
Bommai: Will talk to Uddhav if need arises
The arrested activists include president of Sri Ram Sena Hindustan Ramakant Konduskar and Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti leader Shubham Shelke. The arrested have been remanded to 14-day custody. Meanwhile in Bengaluru, the SJ Park police took some Kannada activists into preventive custody after they tried to shout slogans to draw the attention of CM Bommai.
More than 100 policemen had been deployed around Town Hall, where Bommai was to attend an event for the release of a book on Veer Savarkar. E arlier, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists staged protest at Sangolli Rayanna statue near the City Railway Station and submitted a memorandum to DG&IGP Praveen Sood, seeking a ban on Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti.
The Sadashivanagar police convinced members of the Maratha Welfare Association to call off their protest. Bommai at the Belagavi airport said, “Our DGP will speak to his counterpart in Maharashtra about the security of Kannadigas there and the attack on buses and private vehicles from Karnataka.
Our Home Minister will also take up the issue with his counterpart. I will speak to the Maharashtra CM if the situation demands.’’ On Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut asking Marathas to unite, Bommai said that responsible people should never incite anyone. “Shivaji, Sangolli Rayanna and Kittur Chennamma fought against the British. We will be doing a disservice to them if we fight to divide society,’’ he added.
Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray tweeted, “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is respected by people in the entire nation. His insult apart, the slightest disrespect to him by anybody will not be tolerated. The atrocities on Marathi people in Karnataka must stop.”