Bengaluru: The Karnataka police have arrested four people — three in connection with the victory celebrations after Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain’s election to Rajya Sabha on 27 February, and a BJP worker from Mandya district in a two-year-old case — for raising slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’.
Karnataka home minister G. Parameshwara Tuesday confirmed the developments, and said the “law would take its own course”.
“The individual, whoever has shouted (the slogans), has shouted twice. That has been confirmed and based on that FSL (forensic science laboratory) evidence has not said who has said that…just said that it has been confirmed…there is no intervention from any side and there is a straightforward video that they have examined and confirmed (sic),” Parameshwara told reporters Tuesday in Bengaluru.
The arrests came a week after the issue gained national attention with the BJP — the principal opposition party in Karnataka — demanding strict action against those who chanted pro-Pakistan slogans and pulling up the state’s ruling Congress for enabling such elements with its “appeasement politics”. The Bengaluru police had Monday night issued a statement saying they had identified the accused on the basis of FSL evidence, testimonies and other information.
On Tuesday, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya put out a post on X alleging that the “prime accused in Vidhana Soudha pro-Pakistan sloganeering case is Rahul Gandhi’s close aide”.
Mohammad Iltaz, prime accused in Vidhana Soudha Pro-Pakistan Sloganeering case is Wayanad MP & Former Congress President @RahulGandhi's close aide.
This is probably why CM @siddaramaiah took days together to move ahead in the case.
Pathetic state of law & order in Karnataka. pic.twitter.com/1o39TfYBAn
— Tejasvi Surya (ಮೋದಿಯ ಪರಿವಾರ) (@Tejasvi_Surya) March 5, 2024
The Siddaramaiah government has not released the names of those arrested, nor has it made the FSL report public so far.
Asked whether those arrested in connection with the Syed Naseer Hussain victory celebrations in the Vidhana Soudha are Congress workers or associated with the party, Parameshwara said that only further investigation will reveal the details.
“There are Congress sympathisers, workers, office-bearers…we don’t know anything…let the police investigate that. Now that the case has been registered and they have been arrested, produced before the magistrate, the investigation will go on…what will come out of the investigation, I cannot say right now,” he added.
Meanwhile, the BJP has demanded that Hussain not be administered the oath to Rajya Sabha until the probe is complete.
Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said it was unfortunate that some members of the state’s ruling party had taken the side of “anti-nationals”.
“The media clearly showed raising pro-Pakistan slogans but still the ministers stood by them. It was unfortunate that some ministers forgot their positions and stood in their support. This attitude was quite dangerous,” Bommai said in a statement Tuesday.
The BJP had accused the Congress of shielding “pro-Pakistan sympathisers” and holding on to the FSL report for several days.
With Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the BJP has been trying to corner the Congress citing “appeasement politics”.
It had used the same argument after the blast at Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe last Friday. The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has not been able to make any major headway in the case and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the probe Monday.
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The Mandya case
The BJP was left red-faced when a two-year-old clip, purportedly of a party protest in Mandya, about 100 km from Bengaluru, started to do the rounds on social media.
“Another incident that has come to light is that in 2022, in Mandya, a BJP worker had chanted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. The BJP was in power then but did not take action then. Now when we found out, we have to take action and one person has been arrested. Law is the same for everybody,” Parameshwara told reporters.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), lodged on 4 March, three BJP workers have been accused of shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. ThePrint has seen the FIR.
One person, identified as Ravi, has been arrested.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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