Gulbarga city observes near total bandh

May 08, 2010 02:39 am | Updated 02:39 am IST - Gulbarga:

The supporters of the bandh call in Gulbarga city in support of former Minister S K Kanta and pourakarmikas demanding payment of their pending salaries taking out a procession in Gulbarga city on Friday. The supporters of the bandh call in Gulbarga city in support of former Minister S K Kanta and pourakarmikas demanding payment of their pending salaries taking out a procession in Gulbarga city on Friday. - already give

The supporters of the bandh call in Gulbarga city in support of former Minister S K Kanta and pourakarmikas demanding payment of their pending salaries taking out a procession in Gulbarga city on Friday. The supporters of the bandh call in Gulbarga city in support of former Minister S K Kanta and pourakarmikas demanding payment of their pending salaries taking out a procession in Gulbarga city on Friday. - already give

Near total bandh was observed in Gulbarga city on Friday in support of 470 plus pourakarmikas of the Gulbarga City Corporation who are on indefinite fast demanding immediate release of their 35-month pending wages. The former Minister S.K. Kanta is leading the agitation.

The organisers of the bandh, which included many Kannada organisations, Dalit organisations and heads of a few religious maths, there was no was force on the business establishments and hotels to close their establishments, and everybody's support for the bandh call appeared voluntary.

Though the police had assured people of full protection during the bandh, most business establishments remained closed. Only a few autorickshaws were seen plying on the roads but almost all shops in the city remain closed. The North Eastern Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) also did not operate the city services.

The NEKRTC, however, operated the mofussil and long distance services as usual after the police assured the corporation that security would be tightened. However, the private operators plying on long distance routes kept their vehicles off the road.

Braving scorching sun, hundreds of people, including many women, led by Sri Mahanta Shivacharyaru of the Sulpul Math, Sri Rajashekar Shivacharyaru, Guru Mahanta Shivacharyaru of the Hiremath at Pala, Shivanda Swamigalu of Sonna Dasoha Math, Gangadhar Swamigalu of Chowdapur Math, Kanchi Basava Shivacharyaru of Roza Math, battery of Congress leaders including DCC president Allamprabhu Patil, MLC, the former Mayor Chandrika Parameshwar, zilla panchayat member Ambaraya Ashtagi, the former president of the HKCCI Umakant Nigudgi, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike president Arunkumar Patil, Hyderabad Karnataka Janapara Sangarsh Samiti Laxman Dasti and others marched from the Super Market to the Deputy Commissioner's office to register their protest against the insensitive and indifferent attitude of the Government to the genuine demands of the pourakarmikas.

The protesters raised slogans against the State Government and the police for arresting nearly 70 Dalits after an incident in which stones were thrown at the police personnel at Tarfail slum. They alleged that the police tried to intimidate religious leaders and pressured them to withdraw the bandh call and had issued notices to them saying that if there was any untoward incident during the bandh they would be held responsible for it.

Incidentally, this is for the first time that the police had slapped notices on the organisers of the bandh citing the Supreme Court ruling holding the organisers of the bandh responsible if any untoward incident occurred during the bandh period. Notices were also served to Mr. Kanta. Neither had the swamijis nor Mr. Kanta accepted the notices and the police personnel had pasted the notices on the doors of the religious math and at the venue where Mr. Kanta was on hunger strike.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.