Protest in Bhatkal Against Deceptive Report by Bangalore-based Kannada Daily

From Syed Abdul Mueez / Yahya Hallare, Bhatkal
 
Bhatkal, Sep 11: The representatives of various Muslim organizations of Bhatkal led by the social organization of Bhatkal, Mijlis-e-Islah-o-Tanzeem, held a rendezvous with the Additional SP of Uttar Kannada district regarding the issue of false and deceptive report related to Bhatkal which was published in a renowned Kannada daily a few days ago.

The authorities and the public gathered themselves at the Bhatkal Circuit House today morning to protest against such an action and demand the immediate legal action and arrest of the reporter who was involved in publishing such baseless report.

Speaking on the occasion the General Secretary of Tanzeem, Mohiddin Altaf Kharouri, said that, the motive behind such report was to defame the town and its Muslim community and give rise to enmity and hatred between the various communities which are living in the town in a peaceful atmosphere. Through the report which was published in the Kannada daily, the reporter had tried to kindle the fire of disharmony between the Hindus and Muslims of the town by falsely accusing the particular Muslim Associations of Bhatkal of harbouring terrorists and encouraging terrorism in the nation.

Kharouri said that the heads of various organizations had gathered there today to protest against such an act and a memorandum was being presented to the district SP demanding to take actions against the same. "If the police fail to take immediate action against the reporter, we will intensify our protest and take further actions in this regard, which will include Bhatkal Band and dharna's etc" he added.

Speaking on the occasion the vice president of Tanzeem, Inayathullah Shabandari said that such reports are continuously being published in few news media to deceive the non-muslim population of the town as well as the people of surrounding areas against the Muslim folks of Bhatkal. On account of such reports the Muslims are looked upon with suspicion by the other communities. The Muslims of Bhatkal are treated as anti social elements and every Bhatkali Muslim as a terrorist. He demanded the police and the authorities to carry on their duties before the situations go out of control and take the legal actions against such newspapers and the reporters who were trying to stir the peace of the town with their baseless allegations.The memorandum was accepted by the additional SP Subhash Gudimane in the absence of the district SP, who had arrived from Karwar.

The memorandum stated that Bhatkal was a very sensitive town of UK and was a cosmopolitan. People of various communities lived here peacefully. There were certain amount of disturbances in the past due to communal disharmony, which were resolved peacefully by the joint efforts of peace loving Muslim and Hindu Community people. And since then peace has been prevailing in Bhatkal. In this situation the allegations against Bhatkal published in the so called 'authentic' newspaper are completely false and baseless. The newspaper had alleged that the various Muslim Associations in different parts of Bhatkal are harbouring terrorists and encouraging terrorism in the nation.

The memo also stated that the media people involved had committed an offense punishable under section 153A of the Indian Panel Code and suitable legal action should be taken against the offenders in accordance with law and also that sufficient Police protection should be provided to the Muslims of Bhatkal and also the quoted Mosques, since there are chances of eruption of unrest and violence at any time.

The AC of Bhatkal VRP Manohar, assistant SP of Bhatkal Sudheer Reddy and Additional SP Subhash Gudimane also spoke on the occasion and expressed their amazement over such false reports. They assured that the needed legal actions will be taken against the offenders.

SP Balakrishna later rubbished the reports published by the Kannada daily and said that no area in Bhatkal was restricted in anyway as claimed by the newspaper, and that all areas were open to public and to police. He also denied the possiblility, as stated in the Kannada report, that arms could be smuggled in through the sea route.

general secretary of Majils-e-Islah-o-Tanzeem Mohiddin Altaf Kharuri said that media is defaming Bhatkal by publishing false stories and harming its image. Outsiders are afraid to come to Bhatkal because of this, and the taluk is not able to develop, he said, adding that Majils-e-Islah-o-Tanzeem will demand immediate arrest of journalists who are responsible for the story and stage protest if required.