BENGALURU: Politicians, cutting across party lines, have condemned sloganeering by teenage activist Amulya Leona for days in Karnataka but on Sunday, one voice showed compassion to the now jailed youngster. Former minister and Congress leader D K Shivakumar on Sunday said that while pro-Pakistan slogans are unacceptable, dissent cannot be silenced. At a time when ministers in the B S Yediyurappa-led BJP government are pushing for a strong case against activists and organisers of anti-CAA protests with a few right-wing organisations even placing a bounty on Amulya’s head, Shivakumar has chosen to extend the benefit of doubt to the teenager.
“We do not know what this young girl wanted to say. After going through her previous posts, it is clear that she believes in the ideology of Vishwamanava (global citizen). She wanted to speak on those lines perhaps. Politicking takes place but where and when it should is important. This is the matter of the country.
Nobody will support activities against our country. I do not support pro-Pakistan slogans. Our country comes first but dissent should not be silenced. Let us not hurry into things,” Shivakumar said. The Congress leader had previously condemned Amulya’s sloganeering much like his peers. Shivakumar’s statement came on the day Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai held a meeting with top police officials to deal with cases of sedition, hate speech and anti-CAA rallies at large.
Bommai is said to have met CM B S Yediyurappa post his meeting with top cops to brief him of the precautions over the department intends to take in the future. Permissions to protests are likely to hit a roadblock with incidents of alleged inflammatory and hate speeches taking the centre stage.
Union minister D V Sadananda Gowda said that Central and state governments were already taking measures to clamp down on such incidents. “Investigations into these cases are being treated very seriously. Many anti-national organisations and individuals are looking to gain political mileage out of this. The Centre, as well as the state governments, are taking measures to curtail this. We will not allow it to grow,” said Gowda.