Karnataka: Hindutva outfit tries to hoist pakistan flag on mini state assembley

From: Mail Today, 6 January 2012

Sene men held for bid to hoist Pakistani flag

By Aravind Gowda in Bangalore

SIX ACTIVISTS of the right- wing Sri Ram Sene, who had planned to spark communal violence in the north Karnataka town of Sindhagi by hoisting the Pakistani flag on the mini Vidhan Soudha premises, are now lodged behind bars.

Interestingly, all the accused had staged demonstrations in the town the very next day to protest the delay in arresting those responsible for the reprehensible act. They also tried to manhandle Bijapur district SP D. C. Rajappa and other officers when they visited the spot.

Four days after the incident, the police on Thursday arrested the Sene activists on the charges of fomenting communal disharmony. The police said Rakesh Siddaramiah Mutt ( 19), Anil Kumar ( 18), Parashuram Ashok ( 20), Rohit Eshwar ( 18), Sunil Madiwalappa ( 18) and Mallanagouda Vijaykumar ( 18) — all members of Sene’s youth wing — were responsible for the flag- hoisting incident.

The police are on the lookout for absconding accused Arun Vaghmore ( 20).

“ Rakesh is the Sindhagi unit president of Sene’s student wing and the other accused are its members. They are all students in various colleges of Sindhagi and Bijapur. Their aim was to create communal unrest and gain advantage for their campaign,” Rajappa said.

Sene chief Pramod Muthalik termed the charges “ baseless” and alleged that the police were foisting a false case on his outfit’s members. But Rajappa said: “ The accused have confessed... They were planning to shift base to Goa for a few days by mid- January. They had stitched the Pakistani flag at an accomplice’s house in Sindhagi.

Investigations are on to find out if other Sene leaders are involved.” He said the accused conspired for a week before hoisting the flag on the night of December 31. They returned the following morning and staged their demonstration, pelting stones at a government- owned bus. “ Their motive was clear: hoist the flag, create unrest and take mileage by protesting against the incident,” Rajappa said.

The clue cracking the case came from an eyewitness, who had seen the activists hoisting the flag around 3.30 am.

Rajappa said the witness later identified one of the accused, who then spilled the beans.

But former CM H. D. Kumaraswamy gave a different version of the incident. “ I am told the RSS was behind the incident. It is shameful that the BJP is trying to create communal unrest for political gains,” he said. However, neither the BJP nor the RSS reacted to the allegation.