Pics: Spoorthi Ullal

Daijiworld Media Network: Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Dec 31: State home minister Basavaraj Bommai who conducted peace meetings with leaders of the Hindu and Muslim community on Tuesday, December 31, appealed the leaders to keep protests and meetings on Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on hold.

The Muslim Central Committee had organized protest against the implementation of CAA on January 4 and district unit BJP had scheduled to hold their awareness meeting on CAA on January 12. Though he gave permission for the meetings, he appealed the leaders to postpone the dates until the tense atmosphere prevailing in the district clams down completely.

The leaders agreed to Bommai’s request and the home minister told media that permission to hold protest and awareness meetings will be given in second week of January.

He also expressed his gratitude to the community leaders on maintaining peace in the district after the violent protest.

When questioned about the withdrawal of compensation to Jaleel and Nausheen’s families, Bommai said that as their names appeared in the FIR, an investigation has to be done. Compensation will be granted if the investigation proves that the victims are innocent, he said.

The home minister also spoke on framing guidelines on providing compensation, which will be helpful while dealing with such cases.

Final decision on identifying a place to stage protests in the outskirts of the city has yet to be taken. The matter needs to be discussed with elected representatives and DC, he said.

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLCs Ivan D’Souza, Hareesh Kumar, MLAs Dr Y Bharath Shetty, D Vedavyasa Kamath, Harish Poonja, U T Khader, Sanjeeva Matandoor, S Angara among others were present.