Central team in Karnataka to review security situation

A team of senior Home Ministry officials arrived in Mangalore in coastal Karnataka on Tuesday to review the security situation in the BJP-ruled State following the recent attacks on churches by suspected pro-Hindu activists.

The two-member team led by Special Secretary for Internal Security M L Kumawat and comprising Joint Secretary to the Department of Home Ministry A K Yadav held discussions with senior police officials and obtained details about the attacks on the churches.

The later went around Mangalore and other parts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, which had borne the brunt of the attack.

Kumawat said they would submit a report to the Federal Home Minister V Shivaraj Patil on their return to the capital in two days time after completing their tour of affected parts of the state.

The Central team’s visit to Karnataka comes close on the heels of the two advisories issued by the Home Ministry to the BJP Government in the State to initiate effective steps immediately to prevent the attacks on churches.

However, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has not taken the dispatch of the Central team to Karnataka by the Federal Government kindly. Just as he resented the issue of advisories, Yeddyurappa was offended with the visit of the Home Ministry officials and said there was no need for the Federal Government to send a team to study the security situation in Karnataka.

“The law and order situation in Karnataka is good. What is happening in Delhi? Terrorists are killing innocent people everyday, but the Centre is keeping quiet. On the other hand, it sends letters to Karnataka”, said Yeddyurappa while speaking to reporters in Hubli on Tuesday.

However, he said he had no objection to the Central team’s visit as long as it submits a “factual and objective” report on the security situation in the State.
He said the Karnataka Government has decided to invoke the provisions of the Anti Goonda Act against persons indulging in attacks on places of Christian worship. Apart from ordering a Corps of Detective (CoD) probe, the State Government has announced an judicial inquiry into the attacks on churches, he said.