Latest news with #Chittaranjan
New Indian Express
20-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Chart a path out of dark woods
But turf war in this fishing town— where Muslims mainly belong to the Nawayat sect and speak Nawaity, which is close to Persian—was brewing between the RSS and Muslim organisations for control of the municipality. This led to riots in 1993, in which 19 people from both communities were killed. In 1996, Dr Chittaranjan was shot dead in his house. The probe was handed over to the CBI, which could not arrive at any conclusion over the killers. Despite the murder, neither Bhatkal nor Uttara Kannada had witnessed any major communal incident till recent times. The BJP tried to paint with communal colours the death of one Paresh Mesta near Honnavar in 2017, and held massive protests across Karnataka. But the CBI, which probed the death, concluded it was an accidental death, not murder. However, the saffron outfit's electoral gains were massive. It has won all Lok Sabha elections from 1996 till now, except once, from the Uttara Kannada seat (two assembly segments here belong to Belagavi district). However, the Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts were different. The worst years of communal violence in these districts were 1998, 2003 and 2006. In each of these years, at least eight people were hacked to death, many of them in a cycle of retaliations. In 2022, three murders took place in a span of only eight days; in 2025, three deaths happened within 30 days. Why these killings and riots? The reasons are many: vigilantism, moral policing, hate speeches, desecration of religious places, targeting of interfaith relationships, use of religion as a political tool, public and police complicity in terms of informing, inept handling of the incidents by the government of the day, selective law enforcement, withdrawal of cases against the accused, and fake news on social media. Even minor incidents become huge communal flashpoints these days, thanks to viral posts on social media. The incidents are so politicised that it's difficult to control the situation once the fire is lit. Political leaders from both sides of the divide often fan the flames. Has this region reached a point of no return? Maybe not, if the government spares no effort taking tough steps to eradicate communal forces. It also needs to stay neutral, bring community leaders for regular peace meetings, cleanse the police of bias and nexus, and above all, unhesitatingly take action against anyone, including political leaders, involved in stoking communal tensions. But all this is easier said than done. B S Arun | Senior journalist based in Bengaluru (Views are personal)
New Indian Express
08-06-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
Gadag leads Karnataka's fight against school dropouts with door-to-door campaign
GADAG: Karnataka has a problem with learning. The state's school dropout rate in secondary education is 22%, way higher than the national average of 14%, according to statistics available for 2023-24. The dropout rate was 1.7% in primary education and 2.7% in upper primary education. Despite constitutional provisions such as Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009, improving the situation is a huge challenge. Now Gadag is living up to that challenge with an admirable initiative, led by Minister for Law and Tourism and Gadag MLA, HK Patil. The town is looking for its missing children. Gadag Deputy Director's Office, Gadag Area Education Officer's Office and Siddalinga Nagar Government High School have jointly organised a campaign 'Come, Come to School, for a Bright Future' from June first week. The aim of the campaign is to bring back school dropouts. Many officials in both urban and rural areas are now looking for students in farms and working sites to convince their parents and children themselves to come back to schools. 'Come, Come to School, for a Bright Future' is a process-driven project. First, the officials and teachers conducted a survey and prepared a list of dropped out students. Then they mapped them as per area, village and wards. Block Education Officers (BEO) roped in Cluster Resource Persons, teachers and headmasters and started visiting houses of dropped out students. They then persuaded the parents to send their wards back to school and convinced them about the fruits of education. Till Saturday, their efforts have brought back 14 students in Gadag town, 11 students in Ron town and eight in Gadag Rural area to schools. The state education department has not yet collated the data since it is only the beginning of the campaign. The students are thrilled to come back to school. Twelve-year-old Chittaranjan (name changed) said: 'We are thankful to the school and the education department for conducting a survey and bringing us back to school. Many students of our age are now coming back after watching us. Consecutive droughts, floods and Covid waves forced many children to quit school. We are happy that this new campaign will bring back many of us back to their schools.'
Hans India
07-06-2025
- Hans India
Anti-social elements warned of strict action
Asifabad: SP Patil Kantilal Subhash said that strict action will be taken against anti-social activities in the district. He suggested that the police should work to control crimes. A meeting was held with police officers at the district police office on Friday. Speaking on this occasion, the SP said that the police should be constantly available to the people and give priority to public safety by solving people's problems. He ordered to take steps to control cyber crimes and prohibited drugs. He suggested that policing should be done in a way that reassures the people and strict action should be taken in matters of peace and security. He ordered to take legal action against those who disturb peace and security and those who obstruct police duties. He asked to take strict measures to prevent any undesirable incidents during tomorrow's Bakrid festival. ASP Chittaranjan, Kagaznagar DSP Ramanujam, Special Branch, Task Force Inspector Rana Pratap and others participated in this meeting.
