Bengaluru: Over the Bengaluru riots, the Karnataka Muslim Muttahida Mahaz, a conglomerate of 28 Muslim groups have urged Muslim traders to shut their shops as an act of peaceful protest. The peaceful Bandh which will start from morning till 5 pm on January 22, is a call to support all the “innocents” who have been jailed during the Bengaluru riots. The groups have asked for the release of the innocent youth who have been arrested in the KG Halli and DJ Halli riots in the city. The participation in the Bandh will be strictly voluntary and groups said that there will not be any rallies, meetings, or propaganda.
Violent clashes took place in India’s IT capital last August after the alleged “derogatory message” posted on social media by Naveen, Pulikehsinagars’s Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy’s Nephew. The mobs pelted stones and committed acts of vandalism and arson in DJ Halli, KG Halli, Pulikeshinagar, and Kaval Byrasandra areas. They attacked two police stations and burned vehicles and fought with over 60 police officers who were called to control the action. The group also set fire to the home of Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas. The police officers open fired to control the rampaging mob which led to the death of four people on August 11.
So far, 421 people have been arrested which includes the Social Democratic Party of India leader Muzammil Pasha and the Congress party leader and former corporate, Abdul Rakeeb Zakir. The Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) has also arrested former Bengaluru mayor and Congress leader R. Sampath Raj. IANS had reported that the NIA also seized incriminating materials relating to the SDPI and PFI besides weapons like swords, knives, and iron rods during the raids.
In the wake of the peace Bandh, BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje said on Twitter that the Muslim groups are “sympathizing with the culprits”. She tweeted that this shows the conglomerates supporting the perpetrators who have created chaos and burned down the city. The call for the Bandh is an appeal to the government for the immediate release of the men who were arrested in the Bengaluru riots.
