Police action against Panchamasali protest sparks uproar in Karnataka Assembly

NT Correspondent

Belagavi

The police lathi charge on Panchamasali Lingayat protesters near Suvarna Vidhana Soudha here earlier this week sparked uproar in the Karnataka Assembly on Thursday with state Home Minister G Parameshwara defending the police action and the opposition BJP demanding a government apology and judicial inquiry into the incident. The Assembly witnessed multiple adjournments as BJP members insisted on a government statement.

When Speaker U T Khader eventually allowed Minister Krishna Byre Gowda to respond, he blamed the previous BJP government for unresolved reservation issues, despite the Home Minister already addressing the police action. The protests by the Panchamasali Lingayat community demanding reservation turned violent on Tuesday. Demonstrators, demanding inclusion in the 2A (15%) category of the OBC reservation matrix instead of the current 3B (5%), allegedly threw stones, prompting the police to resort to lathi charge. Several protesters and police personnel were injured during the clashes. Among those detained were Basava Jayamruthunjaya Swami of Panchamasali Peetha, BJP MLAs Basangouda Patil Yatnal and Arvind Bellad, and Rajya Sabha MP Iranna Kadadi.

After an obituary reference to two former legislators, BJP leader R Ashoka demanded a statement from CM Siddaramaiah or the Home Minister. Despite the Speaker's assurance to address the matter after the Question Hour, BJP protests forced an initial adjournment. When the House reconvened, Home Minister Parameshwara defended the police action, citing maintenance of law and order. Noting that over 10,000 people had gathered at the protest site, he said Siddaramaiah had sent a ministerial delegation to receive their memorandum.

However, protesters insisted that the CM visit the site. Parameshwara accused protesters of marching towards Suvarna Vidhana Soudha despite restrictions, removing barricades, and pelting stones at the police, injuring 24 personnel. He justified the lathi charge as a measure to maintain law and order and said, "This government will not allow anyone to take the law into their hands.''

Panchamasali agitation intensifies in Karnataka

The protests by Panchamasali Lingayat community demanding their inclusion in the 2A category of Other Backward Castes (OBC) intensified on Thursday with the BJP backing them. The Panchamasali Lingayat community led by the pontiff of Kudalasangama Panchamasali Math Basava Jayamruthyunjaya Swami is demanding their inclusion in 2A category.

The community is presently placed under the 3B category, which gets five per cent reservation in government jobs and education institutions, whereas the 2A category, to which they want to be migrated, gets a 15 per cent reservation. The agitators were lathi charged by the police on Tuesday, drawing sharp criticism from various quarters, including the BJP. The Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, R Ashoka, staged a protest against the police high-handedness in front of the statue of B R Ambedkar near Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi.

Speaking on the occasion, Ashoka said the government responded with a lathi charge when Panchamasali Lingayats demanded reservations under 2A category. The Panchamasali Math pontiffs staged a demonstration near the toll plaza at Hirebagewadi in Belagavi on the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway 4. They raised slogans calling Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy 'anti-Lingayat'.