Dakshina Kannada | Two Bajrang Dal members held for ‘immoral policing’

Bengaluru: The leaked contents of Karnataka’s long-awaited caste census suggest a significant policy shift—extending the creamy layer rule to Category 1 castes under the backward classes reservation list. This category includes some of the most disadvantaged nomadic and microscopic communities.

The commission, headed by Jayaprakash Hegde, has reportedly recommended that the creamy layer policy—already applied to categories 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B—be extended to Category 1. The report notes that some groups within Category 1 have achieved considerable progress socially, economically, educationally, and politically, thus justifying the introduction of a filtering mechanism.

The panel emphasized the growing inequality within Category 1 itself, stating that children from impoverished farming and labourer families are unable to compete with the children of wealthier households in the same category.

“The competition is stiff here and there is a threat that this category may become one populated by the rich in due course if the creamy layer policy is not implemented,” the report reportedly states.

It further underlines that to fulfil the constitutional goal of equitable opportunities, the policy must be introduced across all categories of backward classes, including Category 1.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday visited the residence of 35-year-old Bharat Bhushan, in Mathikere, Bengaluru, who was shot dead in front of his family by terrorists in Pahalgam and paid his final respects.

Offering condolences on behalf of all Kannadigas to Bharat Bhushan, the Chief Minister said it is extremely unfortunate that a young, well-educated man like him became a victim of a terror strike.

He strongly condemned the attack as a barbaric and inhuman act.

To facilitate the safe return of Kannada-speaking individuals stranded in Kashmir and to bring back the mortal remains of the deceased, Labour Minister Santosh Lad and a team of officials were immediately dispatched. So far, 175 Kannadigas have been safely brought back to the state.

“It is the government’s duty to protect Kannadigas in difficult times,” the CM stated.

The Karnataka government has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the Kannadigas who lost their lives in the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, he added.

“It is the government’s responsibility to completely eradicate terrorism. Our government extends full support to the Centre in eliminating terrorist activities in the country,” CM Siddaramaiah said.

“Killing innocent people in broad daylight and in front of their families is a heinous crime. Similar to the past Pulwama and Balakot incidents, this is a recurrence. Intelligence failure at the Central level may have contributed to this incident as well,” he observed.

The Chief Minister has directed officials to make necessary arrangements for conducting the final rites of Manjunath Rao and Bharat Bhushan with police honours.

The victims from Karnataka include Bharat Bhushan, Manjunath Rao, and Madhusudan (who had settled in Bengaluru, hailing from Andhra Pradesh). Minister for Transport Ramalinga Reddy has met Bharat Bhushan’s family in Bengaluru, while Minister for Education Madhu Bangarappa met Manjunath Rao’s family in Shivamogga and assured them of support. 

Regarding the terror attack in Kashmir, the Chief Minister said the Central government has already initiated certain measures, and the state government will extend complete support for further steps aimed at eliminating terrorism.

Bharat Bhushan had gone on a Kashmir trip with his wife, Dr Sujata, a paediatrician, and toddler son.

The family stated that the gang of terrorists approached him and asked his name. When Bharat told them his name without any fear. The terrorists then asked him to hand over his son to his wife, Sujata. Later, they had asked him whether he was a Hindu or a Muslim. When Bharat said he was a Hindu, he was shot dead.

The US military has struck the western Yemeni oil port of Ras Isa, leaving dozens of workers and paramedics dead, and dozens more injured.

The facility in Hudaydah governorate was hit at least two times on Thursday night, with the second strike coming as civil defense and rescue teams were extinguishing fires and recovering victims. The second attack killed at least five paramedics.

The Palestinian Information Center and al-Manar TV now report that at least 38 people have been killed in that attack, while 102 others injured.

The Yemeni government slammed the attack as a clear war crime aimed at supporting the Zionist regime and enabling it to continue the Gaza genocide.

It said the strikes prove that the US deliberately attacks civilian infrastructure in Yemen with false justifications.

The government vowed that this crime would not pass without painful punishment, and the US would reap nothing but humiliating defeat and failure.

The US military claimed the port was a source of fuel for the Ansarullah resistance movement.

The governorates of Sana'a, al-Bayda and Hudaydah were also hit with multiple strikes.

The United States intensified its deadly attacks on the country last month at President Donald Trump’s direct orders.

Washington claims the raids are strictly aimed at protecting shipping activity around Yemen, alleging that the regional waterways’ maritime security had been endangered by Sana’a.

Yemeni officials have, however, roundly rejected such claims, underlining that the country only targeted vessels belonging to the Israeli regime and ships taking supplies to it.

The operations implemented by Yemen’s Armed Forces began in October 2023, when the Israeli regime, the US’s most cherished regional ally, began taking the Gaza Strip under a genocidal war.

More than 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed as a result of the warfare, which receives hugely enhanced and unstinting arms support on the part of Washington.