Bengaluru, May 5 (IANS) A signature campaign has been launched urging the immediate deportation of Pakistani nationals residing in Karnataka. The signatures collected will be submitted as a memorandum to the Karnataka Governor.
Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy formally launched the campaign on Monday by signing a petition urging the immediate deportation of Pakistani nationals residing in the state and demanding that the Congress-led Karnataka government be directed to take action on the matter.
Minister Shobha and Narayanaswamy also kick-started the campaign on the ground by collecting signatures from auto drivers and street vendors in the Malleswaram locality of Bengaluru.
Speaking on the occasion, state convenor of various BJP cells S. Dattatri stated that when the BJP was in power in the state, such issues were taken seriously. He claimed that in Karnataka, too, there are hundreds of Pakistani nationals residing in every district.
Earlier, speaking at a press conference at the state BJP office ‘Jagannath Bhavan’ in Bengaluru, MP and Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje alleged that Karnataka is turning into a state of criminals.
“Earlier, we used to talk from the southern part about how crimes happened daily in Bihar. But now Bihar is peaceful, while in Karnataka, one, two, even three or four murders are taking place every day,” she stated.
The Union Minister said that the doubt whether the state government in Karnataka is even alive or dead is not just among the people of the state, but that wherever they go, people ask, “What has happened to your state?”
She criticised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, stating that whenever he comes to power, Karnataka falls into the hands of criminals.
Karandlaje accused the previous Congress government under CM Siddaramaiah in 2013 of withdrawing criminal cases during cabinet meetings. “At that time, organisations like PFI and KFD operated under various names. The government withdrew cases against those arrested in terror-related and anti-national cases, including the murder of RSS worker Rudresh,” she alleged.
She pointed out that recently, a police station was set on fire in Hubballi, and another was attacked in Mysuru. “Police officers were assaulted. Yet CM Siddaramaiah brought a proposal to the cabinet to withdraw 43 such cases. He is the one who has let anti-social elements and terrorists loose on the streets. People who should be in jail are roaming free, and he has emboldened them to commit crimes,” she said.
Karandlaje added that during Siddaramaiah’s previous tenure, the state lost 23 Hindu youths and activists.
“We had written to the NIA and Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding an investigation into the murders of Rudresh and Praveen Kumar Nettaru. The NIA found that several individuals having links with foreign countries, had undergone training abroad, and were hiding in different states after committing murders,” Shobha said.
She claimed that in areas like Mangaluru, Mysuru, Puttur, and Sullia, those who supported terrorist and anti-national activities and those who funded them were arrested and are now in jail. This, she said, provided the central government with strong evidence to ban the Popular Front of India (PFI).
“We had demanded the ban, but the Centre lacked sufficient proof and proper cases at the time. It was the investigation into Praveen Kumar Nettaru’s case that exposed PFI’s involvement, leading to the ban,” she explained.
Karandlaje further alleged that many PFI workers have now joined the political outfit SDPI. “Because of Siddaramaiah’s support and withdrawal of cases, all those criminals are once again involved in murders,” she claimed.
–IANS
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