Mohan Kuthar
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SHS)
Mangalore, Apr 5: Launching an attack against political parties and the police for sensationalizing a small squabble that turned into clashes recently in Ullal, Jumma Masjid secretary Abdul Lateef on Saturday April 5 said voters from ward numbers 1, 2 and 4 will boycott the upcoming polls in a symbolic expression of anger against the political parties.
Addressing a meeting convened to discuss boycotting of the poll here, Lateef said the minster who hails from the region has failed to give justice to the innocents who were allegedly put behind the bars.
"Political parties have misused the incident for gaining mileage ahead of the elections. Innocent youths, women and children were made to suffer during the clashes. The police department used this incident to settle a personal grudge with the people of the vicinity," he alleged.
He further alleged that police intentionally booked many with false charges of attempts to rape, murder and rob. "The police even linked the youths with terrorist outfits and filed more than 10 cases against each person," he said.
Lateef said that the four ministers from the district, including U T Khadar who hails from Ullal, failed to give justice to the innocent people.
"When we appearled to the chief minister, he said that he was not informed about the incident by the ministers. We had urged the ministers to instruct the police to revoke false charges and warned them of boycotting the polls. It is unfortunate that the ministers have not shown any interest in protecting the innocents and even brushed aside our warning saying that whether to vote or not was left to us. Do we need such people to represent us?" he said.
"Hence people of Mukkacheri, Hileriyanagara, KC Road have decided to boycott the elections," he declared.
Ismail Kotepura, a student pursuing BBM from an open university said that he was preparing to write IAS exam, but because of the cases registered against him by the police, he was unable to pursue his dream.