Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai has ruled out a judicial inquiry or probe by a House committee into the violence in Mangaluru during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on December 19 last year that led to two people being killed in police firing. Opposition parties had demanded such a probe into the incident.
Bommai, in his reply to the debate in the Assembly on Wednesday on the law and order situation in the state and Mangaluru violence, which was initiated by leader of opposition Siddaramaiah, said that an interim report had already been submitted following the magisterial inquiry by the Udupi deputy commissioner. He also claimed that the Mangaluru riot was part of a larger conspiracy that had "international ramification" and urged the opposition parties not to support “anti-national forces”.
"It has links with UP, Kerala, Bihar and now Karnataka. We must tackle this or else we will pay a heavy price. Many murders took place—rightwing activists Raju (Mysuru), Rudresh (Bengaluru), Sharat Madiwala and Deepak and Congress MLA from Mysuru, Tanveer Sait, was attacked, a petrol bomb was hurled at another Congress legislator (N.A. Haris) recently,” asked Bommai.
“Can we ignore all this? They [perpetrators] are emboldened. Lot of intelligence inputs are there. They are being financed by various outfits. This will endanger not just the state but also the country. When police tries to curb violence, we must not doubt them. The morale of the police should not be lowered at any cost," argued Bommai.
Giving a detailed account of what transpired on December 19 and why Section 144 was imposed, Bommai said, "Some organisations had given a call for Bharat bandh. We got information that there is possibility of violence. We took it seriously since Mangaluru had a history of communal disturbances. To maintain law and order and protect peace, as a precaution, we imposed prohibitory orders," said Bommai, adding that previously the Siddaramaiah government too had imposed curfew and prohibitory orders across the state following the BC Road incident.
Referring to a social media post by one Riyaz Farangipet, a PFI office-bearer, Bommai said Farangipet had made an inflammatory speech saying even if the police or Army comes, they would not yield. "He has a history of instigating people in North India. He had sent out messages to West Bengal and Bihar, inviting them [supporters] to Mangaluru. The state will suffer if you try to indirectly support groups like PFI. The police were efficient in handling the situation. Let me tell you such incidents will spread further across the state," he said.
Threat calls to Yediyurappa
"We got calls from Saudi [Arabia] and Dubai, when we gave public statements about these organisations. Our leaders have got many such calls and I have received calls; some threat calls were meant for chief minister [B.S. Yediyurappa]. It is a big conspiracy," claimed Bommai.
Bommai reiterated that the rioters in Mangaluru had come from Kerala and also refused to believe those arrested following the firing incident were 'innocent'.
"It is true that rioters came from Kerala. There are many routes connecting Kasaragod to Mangaluru and it takes only 45 minutes. We tracked the phones during the time of rioting and found 1,000 mobiles from Kasaragod in the vicinity of the riots and 373 persons were issued notices to verify their role. If they can provide satisfactory replies, we will let them free," said the minister, adding that the accused in the riot had a history of criminal activity too.
"One of the accused, Abdul Jaleel, was booked for rioting in 2014; another [accused], Nausheen, was in the rioting area and involved in riots. One petrol bomb fell inside the police station; they torched the tyres and threw them at the police. If the rioting mob had succeeded in grabbing guns... who would be answerable? In north police station, 20 were arrested and in south police station, 37 were arrested," informed Bommai.
Vedavyas Kamat, BJP MLA from Mangalore South, defended the police action in Mangaluru and endorsed the home minister's statement on the "larger conspiracy".
"Videos that went viral ahead of the protest had called for teaching Modi a lesson. If it was indeed a peaceful protest, how come 1,000 people assembled despite prohibitory orders with trucks and autos loaded with stones? Petrol bombs were hurled at police and the mob did not even heed the community leaders' appeal to back out,” Kamat argued.
“Barricades were put up on roads leading to Bunder police station. The first of the three doors of the gun shop was broken. If the mob had succeeded to break open the shop, they would have accessed the 30-40 guns and 3,000 bullets. Imagine the mayhem it would have caused. There is unrest in my constituency as there is a huge floating population that comes in daily. The opposition parties must stop blaming the government. It is a serious problem,” Kamat claimed.
Earlier, Karkala MLA Sunil Kumar held Congress MLA U.T. Khader's "inflammatory speech" as being responsible for the riot in Mangaluru.
"The speeches were provocative. A sitting MLA said if CAA is implemented, the state would burn. After two days, there were riots. Did any of you refer to the activities of PFI or SDPI in Bengaluru, Mangaluru or Belagavi? We, in Manfaluru, are suffering due to two-three organisations creating unrest over the last few years," said Kumar.
"In 2014-2015, some people were booked under IPC Sections 506 and 504. The Congress MLA from Mysuru was attacked by a PFI member. The Kerala CM in his statement in Assembly said PFI and SDPI, the terrorist groups, are misusing CAA protests and disturbing peace," added Kumar.
Khader, who is facing sedition charges, said, "Sunil has made a politically motivated statement. But the elections are still far away. On December 17, during my speech in front of DC office, I only said India was beautiful and peaceful. But as the Citizenship Act was implemented without consultation, North India is burning. The south might meet the same fate. I only conveyed the sentiments of the people as an elected representative."
"On December 19, I was in Kushtagi to attend a mass marriage. I learnt that permission was granted for protest on December 19. But later, prohibitory orders were imposed. In the police firing, two were killed and at least 10 would have died, but they were lucky to survive," added Khader.
Recalling the sequence of events, the minister asserted there were no police excesses as alleged by the opposition.
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“The stone pelting near DC office was followed by police wielding lathis. Some people hid in shops and police apprehended 39 people. Despite the police roping in community leaders, including former mayor Ashraf, the protesters did not withdraw the protest and continued stone pelting,” Bommai added.
"Police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the mob. The motivated crowd went to Mission Road, Bunder Road, Ajeezuddin Road. The police was less in number and protesters had blocked the way such that additional forces could not reach the spot. The police fired 66 bullets in the air before the firing claimed two lives. So, we should not look at the police with suspicion. The mob stopped us from taking the injured to the hospital too. The police entered the hospital to evict the stone pelters as they were creating fear in the hospital premises," said the minister defending police action.
Did BJP govt curb protests?
Karnataka, under its current BJP government, has been incident free during sensitive situations, be it the Supreme Court's Ram Janmabhumi judgment, abrogation of Article 370 or religious celebrations. Bommai denied that the BJP government had tried to curb peaceful protests.
"Post CAA enactment, there were protests and people said we are curtailing their fundamental right to protest. But there have been 736 protests in last two months, including more than 20 in Bengaluru alone. All protests were incident-free, be it in Gulbarga or Bidar. In Mangaluru, six protests were held near DC office and other places. Students and members of NSUI and SDPI have participated. But none of it was curbed," said Bommai.
Sunil Kumar mentioned that five protests by various organisations had taken place in Mangaluru including those by DYFI, SDPI and CPI. Till December 19, 28 protests were held including one by Congress party on December 17. Police did not crack down on any of them, he added.
