Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara triggered a political row in his state and within his party when he hinted that Dalits have been ignored by the Congress when it comes to the top job.

Addressing the Chalavadi community in Davangere, the Congress leader said that he was thrice denied the CM post because he belonged to the Dalit community.

“B Basavalingappa and KH Ranganath missed the CM post. Mallikarjun Kharge also couldn’t become CM. I missed it thrice. Somehow I was made Deputy CM,” he said referring to the three tallest Dalit leaders from the state.

While the late Basavalingappa was a senior Congress leader, KH Ranganath and Mallikarjun Kharge are former KPCC presidents. Kharge is currently the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha.

Reacting to Parameshwara’s comment, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Monday that he is unsure of why the Deputy CM gave the statement.

“It’s the Congress party which is taking care of Dalits and other neglected sections of society,” stressed Siddaramaiah.

“I don’t know in what context he made a statement like that. It’s better you ask him,” he was quoted as saying by media.

While speaking about discrimination against Dalits at the government level, Parameshwara said that even Dalit leaders have never been given a chance to be the Chief Minister.

“Even though reservation is facilitated, there has been injustice in promotions,” he alleged.

According to The New Indian Express, Parameshwara alleged that seven government officials had committed suicide after they were demoted.

“Our government will come out with rules next week to implement reservation in promotions, he added.

Chalavadi, a Scheduled Caste community, has a large presence in Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad, Vijayapura and Bidar districts.

Parameshwara, a former KPCC president, is the first Dalit to become Deputy CM of the state. He also served as Home Minister of the state for a brief period in the previous Congress government led by Siddaramaiah.

The Janata Dal (Secular), which is an ally of the Congress in the government and to which Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy belongs, is yet to comment on Parameshwara’s statement.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday asked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to “give peace a chance” and assured him that he “stands by” his words and will “immediately act” if New Delhi provides Islamabad with “actionable intelligence” on the Pulwama attack.

Khan’s remarks came a day after PM Modi in a rally in Rajasthan, recalled his conversation with the Pakistan PM during a congratulatory call after he became the country’s premier.

PM Modi had told him “let us fight against poverty and illiteracy” and Khan gave his word saying he is a Pathan’s son “but went back on it”.

“There is consensus in the entire world against terrorism. We are moving ahead with strength to punish the perpetrators of terrorism…The scores will be settled this time, settled for good…This is a changed India, this pain will not be tolerated…We know how to crush terrorism,” PM Modi further said.

A statement released by the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office said, “PM Imran Khan stand by his words that if India gives us actionable intelligence, we will immediately act.”

PM Modi should “give peace a chance”, Khan said in the statement.

In his first statement issued since the February 14 attack, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan had on Tuesday accused India of blaming his country “without evidence” and warned of retaliation against any military action by India.

However, he assured India that he would act against the perpetrators of the deadly Pulwama terror attack, carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group and said that the issue between the two countries can be solved through dialogue.

India had called Khan’s offer to investigate the attack if provided proof as a “lame excuse”.

The already sour relations between India and Pakistan have worsened over the past few weeks as New Delhi accused Islamabad of the Pulwama attack.

India has accused Islamabad’s spy agency ISI of being involved in the attack and has maintained that the terror group JeM is a “child of the Pakistan Army”.

Following the attack, India immediately withdrew the ‘Most Favoured Nation’ status granted to Pakistan and initiated steps to isolate the neighbouring country from the international community.

Earlier, India had also announced its decision to stop the flow of its share of water from the Beas, Ravi and Sutlej to Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in many of his public speeches after the attack, said that the security forces have been given full freedom to decide the future course of action regarding the terrorist attack in Pulwama.

India’s neighbours, including Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan—and other countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Russia, Germany, Canada, UK, Australia and Canada came out in strong support of New Delhi following the terror attack.

Over 44 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror strikes in Jammu-Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden vehicle near their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying around 2500 CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar.

Agencies

Nasheman News :  Megastar Amitabh Bachchan says it is unfortunate to have come across stories about married women who are thrown out of their house because they are suffering from Hepatitis B. He is against this kind of discrimination towards women and says he will fight for it as long as he is alive.

Amitabh was addressing the media at the launch of a national action plan combating Viral Hepatitis in India along with Maharashtra Minister for PWD, Public Health and Family Welfare Eknath Shinde here on Sunday. 

“I was interested in this great campaign that the government of India and other associations including the World Health Organisation (WHO) have put into practice. My family doctor and his other doctor friends visited me and made me aware of that… how very little is known about it,” said the cine icon.

“I immediately agreed in whatever way I could. There were two things that attracted me, first thing was dissemination of information about Hepatitis B. Most people aren’t aware of this disease but it is a life threatening one so, I felt it’s my duty as a citizen of India to create awareness about it.”

He also said that he feels sad when he sees discrimination towards women when it comes to fighting with diseases. 

“Second thing that surprised and hurt me was that the factor of discrimination particularly to women… it’s really unfortunate that I have come across such stories where married women are thrown out of their house because they are suffering from Hepatitis B.

“Women are half of the power of the country. They are the strength of our country so, they must be treated with respect and dignity that they deserve. If we begin to discriminate them, just because they are suffering from a particular disease, then it is not acceptable and I will fight for this as long as I am alive.” 

Talking about himself, he said: “Today, I am free from tuberculosis because it was diagnosed and treated at the right time so, I feel we must pay a lot of attention to the process of detections of these diseases because if they are detected on time, then there is a cure and I am an example of that.”

Nasheman News :  Karnataka intensified efforts to contain a raging wildfire in the Bandipur forest area in the Chamarajanagar district bordering Tamil Nadu, an official said on Monday.

“As the wildfire spread to about 2,000 hectares in the 874 square kilometres (sq km) Bandipur forest, around 500 guards, officials, eco-volunteers and people from the area rushed to douse the flames,” an official told IANS here.

Movement of people and vehicles, including cars, buses and trucks have been banned on the National Highway-67 and inter-state roads until further notice across Bandipur, which has a sprawling tiger habitat and is biodiversity rich as part of the eco-sensitive southern Western Ghats.

Unlike in the past or in many years, this is the first time the wildfire in Bandipur flared up earlier due to the sudden climatic change and rapid growth of dry grass and Lantana.

“There has been no reports of casualty or injury to animals, including spotted deer, bison, antelopes, elephants, tiger and leopard so far, as they would have ran into the core forest area to escape from the scorching heat and the raging fire that started on Saturday.

“Although small animals like snakes and calves would have perished caught in the blaze,” said the official.

Nasheman News : Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Sunday urged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to hold the biennial Aero India air show in Bengaluru only as Asia’s premier aerospace event, an official statement said.

“Kumaraswamy requested Sitharaman to hold the Aero India air show in Bengaluru only in the coming years too as the 2019 and previous 11 editions were held here over the last 22 years,” said thestatement after they met at the Chief Minister’s home office here.

Thanking Sitharaman for holding the 12th edition of the 5-day international expo here, the Chief Minister said the people of the state and city were happy to visit the air show and witness the static and flying display of over 50 aircraft, including fighters at the IAF’s Yelahanka base.

Kumaraswamy’s appeal to the Defense Minister came at a review meeting of the air show that concluded in the evening on a high note, with over a lakh of people crowding the venue to witness the metal birds fly and perform aerobatics.

The Chief Minister made the appeal personally as the Defence Minister did not announce dates of Aero India 2021 at the inaugural event on Wednesday though it is has been the practice hitherto and is customary at all international air shows.

Speculation was rife in July-August last year about a change of venue when following media reports that the Defence Ministry was planning to shift the prestigious event to Uttar Pradesh ahead of the general elections.

The massive fire in the air base parking lot on Saturday that gutted about 300 cars and the death of a IAF pilot after two Sury Kiran jets collided in the air and crashed on Tuesday while rehearsing for the flying display were also discussed at the meeting, where IAF and defence ministry officials, state officials and city police were present.

During the meeting the reason for fire at parking place and mitigating measures taken after the incident were discussed, with state Home Minister M.B. Patil who was also present. 

“The meeting decided to take precautions while organizing such events in future and measures to mitigate the hardship of the gutted car owners,” added the statement.