Two incidents of malefactors throwing stones at buses were reported in KR Puram and Chandapura.
Police have detained more than one hundred protesters from Kannada organizations who began to gather at City Hall on Saturday morning around 10 am to protest the formation of the Maratha Development Corporation.
The police also detained Narayana Gowda, President of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, and other members of the organization. They were detained in Maurya Circle as he and the protesters made their way to the residence of the Chief Minister.
Vatal Nagaraj, President of Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha, was also detained at City Hall when he came to lead the protest. He accused Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa of being anti-Kannada for quelling the protest. He claimed that the police have detained 30,000 protesters across the state to thwart the protest.
The Kannada Organizations had planned to march to the Chief Minister’s residence, but have so far been unsuccessful due to heavy police deployment in the Shivananda circle and in and around the CM residence.
While a main rally will be held at Freedom Park, smaller dharnas are being organized throughout the city.
As of Wednesday morning, BMTC buses and cars were running as usual, although a section of taxi drivers in aggregation apps supported the bandh. “I tried to book a Vijay Nagar taxi on Uber and Ola with little success. A driver called me back but asked me not to book Uber and to pay him Rs. 300 in cash. Finally I took a normal car which I easily got, ”said a Banashankari resident.
Two incidents of malefactors throwing stones at buses were reported in KR Puram and Chandapura. Many stores in the Gandhinagar and Chickpet area remained closed to support the bandh. However, normal life was not affected in other parts of the city.
Lukewarm response
Despite bandh’s call from pro-Kannada activists, life continues as usual in Hubballi on December 5, 2020 | Photo credit: Kiran Bakale
The call for Karnataka Bandh by Kannada organizations received a lukewarm response in most districts of the Bombay Karnataka region and life went on as usual amid protests from pro Kannada organizations.
In several places in the region, including Dharwad and Gadag, police made pre-trial arrests when members of pro-Kannada organizations tried to block roads.
In Hubballi-Dharwad, the situation remained normal, public transport was not affected and shops and commercial establishments functioned as usual.
The agitation of the Pro Kannada organizations was limited to demonstrations in most places and in some other places protesters were gathering at major crossroads to organize protests.
In Dharwad, protesters were stopped at Jubilee Circle after they tried to block the road.
In Gadag, protesters were forcibly prevented from closing shops. In Mulagund Naka in Gadag, protesters were arrested and detained when they tried to stop the buses. Meanwhile, despite police efforts to prevent them, the protesters managed to burn the effigy of former union minister Basanagouda Patil Yatnal for his derogatory statement against Kannada organizations.
Bad response in Yadgir and Raichur
There is no response to the bandh called by pro-Kannada organizations against the formation of the Maratha Development Authority in Yadgir and Raichur.
The shops and shopping complex are open and operating as usual. At 10 am, buses belonging to NEKRTC are reportedly running normally in both districts, authorities confirmed.
Private vehicles circulate normally. Few stores in Raichur were worthily closed in support of the bandh.
Both Yadgir and Raichur’s SP, Rishikesh Sonawane and Prakash Nikam told The Hindu that there is no impact on normal life.
There are no reports of the forced closure of shops and businesses. If they find it, we will reserve the case, Sonawane said, adding that the organizations can file a memorandum.
Little impact on Mysuru
The bandh called by pro-Kannada organizations against the constitution of the Maratha Development Corporation by Chief Minister BSYediyurappa, elicited little response from Mysuru.
Commercial establishments were open as usual in both the city and residential areas and the public transport system was not affected. The Mysore Federation of Traders Associations, comprising 13 organizations, refused to back the bandh on the grounds that they were recovering from the pandemic-induced lockdown that began on March 25 and was only now a semblance of business rotation.
Members of the federation, including the hotel owners association and the Mysuru Travel Association, said they stood in solidarity with pro-Kannada activists and the cause, but argued that a bandh could not be supported at this juncture when the economy was in ruins due to closure.
The loss to the public purse due to the bandh would be multiple of the amount sanctioned for the Maratha Development Corporation, the federation members argued.
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