Udupi: PFI's massive 'Unity March' marks Formation Day

February 18, 2014

Udupi, Feb 18: To mark its eighth anniversary, the members of Popular Front of India organized a a public meeting and took out a procession titled 'Unity march' from the Old Taluk Office to the Royal Garden grounds in Udupi on Monday.

Speaking after inaugurating the event, K M Sharif, president of national unit of Popular Front of India (PFI), said that there should be equitable distribution of resources in the country.

Mr Sharif said that inequitable distribution of resources was responsible for the social imbalance in the country. The economic policies of the country had always favoured the capitalists. Despite the rule of all kinds of governments professing left, right and centrist ideologies, at the Centre, the plight of the Dalits, minorities and tribal people had not improved, he said.

Rightwing groups such as the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had encouraged communalism since 1980s. The Rath Yatra of the senior BJP leader L K Advani in 1990 was aimed at polarisation of communities to reap electoral benefits. This later led to the demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in 1992. The PFI was against the agenda of the Sangh Parivar, M. Sharif said.

He said all the patriotic Indians should join PFI's struggle for social justice and equality.

“Popular Front was formed at a time when communalism tried to hijack Indian democracy and posed existential threat to country 'minorities. Even after 50 years of independence we failed to eliminate poverty and social injustice. Country backward classes and minorities were kept way from centres of power. Majority of the citizens are still below poverty line. Demands for justice were oppressed. Muslims, being a community that paid high price for our freedom, they still hold the capacity to lead the country out of situation. Popular Front thinks the day is relevant because the politicians and parties have long forgotten their allegiance to the country or its people. Our sovereignty has been submitted before colonialists and economy is being controlled by a tiny ultra-rich minority. Popular Front Aims to create a society determined to re-establish the basic values freedom, justice and security and to work for the empowerment of marginalised backward classes,” he said.

Abubakar Saheb, former president of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), Mufti Mohammed Muazam, president of All India Imam Council, Deviprasad Shetty, president of district unit of Janata Dal (Secular), Jayan Malpe, president of district unit of Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (DSS), and others were present.

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BJP MLAs storm Speaker U T Khader’s chambers for allowing Cong MLA to speak on BJP’s quota politics

News Network

December 12,2024

Angry BJP lawmakers stormed Assembly Speaker U T Khader’s chambers at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, escalating tensions after the ruling Congress turned the tables on the saffron party over the Panchamasali Lingayat community’s reservation issue.

The friction began when Congress MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar, a Panchamasali Lingayat, was allowed to criticise the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government’s controversial decision to scrap the 4 per cent Muslim quota, reallocating it equally to Lingayats and Vokkaligas. Kashappanavar slammed the BJP’s move, accusing it of being a mere election gimmick.

“The previous BJP government created two new reservation categories, 2C for Vokkaligas and 2D for Lingayats, just before the 2023 Assembly elections,” Kashappanavar said. “When challenged in the Supreme Court, the BJP government admitted it would not implement the decision. They announced it for votes but backtracked in court, misleading Panchamasali seer Basava Jaya Mrityunjaya Swami.”

Adding fuel to the fire, Kashappanavar alleged that RSS members had incited violence during a protest for enhanced Panchamasali Lingayat reservation. This claim enraged BJP lawmakers, who demanded the comment be expunged. However, Speaker Khader permitted Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda to read aloud the BJP government’s affidavit to the Supreme Court.

“If the Panchamasali Lingayat community has faced injustice, it is because of the BJP,” Gowda declared, sparking further protests from the opposition. BJP leaders accused Khader of being “one-sided” and disregarding a point of order raised by BJP MLA V Sunil Kumar.

When Khader adjourned the session for lunch, the confrontation boiled over. Opposition Leader R Ashoka, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra, MLAs Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, Sunil Kumar, and others barged into Khader’s chambers. Chaos ensued as shouting and hollering echoed through the halls, prompting marshalls to intervene.

“The Speaker was warned that if he continued behaving this way, we would boycott the session,” Narayan stated afterward.

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