Reuters
Pic of torched bus (Courtesy: TimesNow)
Bangalore, Sep 19: A mob torched a bus in a south Indian city and burnt two people to death, police said, blaming Hindu activists angry over the latest chapter in a row over the existence of Hindu gods.
A mob attacked the bus late on Tuesday night as it travelled from Bangalore, home to much of India's technology and outsourcing industry, to Tamil Nadu.
"There were 26 passengers. All escaped but for two passengers who may have been asleep," said a police inspector on Wednesday, speaking anonymously because of police protocol. "Their bodies have been charred beyond recognition."
Another police officer said the attackers were Hindu activists, enraged by comments by Tamil Nadu's chief minister, M. Karunanidhi, who has appeared in public several times questioning the existence of Lord Ram.
Shortly before the bus attack, a mob threw stones at the Bangalore house of Karunanidhi's daughter, where police found a hand-written note demanding Karunanidhi's arrest for deriding Lord Ram. No one was injured in the incident.
Union government sparked a national row with its Hindu-nationalist opponents last week when it filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, since withdrawn, saying some of Hinduism's most revered texts are "mythological", and do not prove that Hindu gods exist.
The Supreme Court is hearing a dispute over India's plans to bore a shipping canal through a bridge-like stretch of sandbanks and rocks between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
Many Hindus oppose the project, believing the structure to be built millennia ago by Lord Ram and his army of monkeys to rescue his kidnapped wife.
The government has said the structure was formed naturally by the ocean, and Karunanidhi said the issue was being used as a pretext to oppose the government and the project.
Earlier reports:
Security tightened at Karunanidhi's daughter's house
IANS
Bangalore: Around 30 policemen on Wednesday guarded the Bangalore residence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Selvi following an attack on it Tuesday.
Police said about 10 people have been detained for questioning in connection with the attack, in protest against Karunanidhi's comments on Hindu god Ram.
Karunanidhi, an atheist and patriarch of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, had questioned last week whether Ram was an engineer and which college he had studied in, referring to the controversy over the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project.
A group of 15 to 20 people pelted stones and threw glass bottles at Selvi's house in the posh J P Nagar area of the city breaking window panes and ornamental bulbs on the compound wall around 8.30 pm on Tuesday.
Selvi and her husband Murasoli Selvan were away in Chennai when the attack took place, according to the police.
Only the watchman was present at the time of the attack and he suffered minor injuries, Deputy Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar said after visiting the spot.
The watchman told the police that the attackers, who were in their 20s, shouted anti-Karunanidhi slogans, pelted stones and bottles and left behind pamphlets attacking Karunanidhi for his remarks on Lord Ram.
In an apparently related incident, a Tamil Nadu State transport bus was set on fire on the outskirts of Bangalore on Tuesday and two passengers were charred to death.
The bus was stopped near Bommanahalli on the road to Hosur in Tamil Nadu around 9.30 pm and was set on fire after all passengers were asked to get down, the driver and conductor of the bus told the police.
After the fire was doused, police found two bodies burnt beyond recognition.
The state government has informed the Union Home Ministry and the Tamil Nadu government of the two incidents and steps are being taken to arrest the culprits and to maintain law and order in the state, an official spokesperson told reporters.
Karunanidhi condemns 'Ram Bhaktas' for torching bus
UNI
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday condemned ''Ram Bhaktas'' for burning alive two people, by torching a Tamil Nadu State Corporation bus and launching a violent attack at his daughter's house in Bangalore last night over the ''Ramsethu'' issue.
Talking to newspersons here, the DMK leader said, ''by resorting to such violent attacks, the Ram Bhaktas have exposed their culture and true colour.'' Condemning the incident, Karunanidhi expressed his deep condolences to the bereaved families.
Karunanidhi, whose remarks about Lord Ram, provoked the activists of some Hindu organisations to resort to the violent acts, stood by his remarks, while answering a question.
On the charge by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) that his remarks against Lord Ram were responsible for the violent incident, the Dravidian patriarch said that he stood by his remarks and reiterated that there was no historical evidence to show that Lord Ram had built the ''Ramsethu.'' ''History had no evidence to show that there was a person called Lord Ram lived and he was an Engineer, competent enough to build a bridge. I had made this remarks and what is wrong in this,'' he retorted.
Karunanidhi said saint ''Valmiki, in his Ramayana, had said more than what we had said about Ram and what are they (BJP and Hindu organisations) have to say for this.''
Shivraj, Prakash express regret over Bangalore incident
Chennai: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Karnataka Home Minister M P Prakash on Wednesday expressed regret over the violent attack on the house of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter in Bangalore last night.
Patil and Rao spoke to Karunanidhi over phone and expressed their regret over the incident, an official release here said.
The Union Home Minister, after inquiring about the incident, assured the Chief Minister that he would ensure immediate security to his daughter's house at J P Nagar area in Bangalore.
Thanking Patil, Karunanidhi said this kind of incidents were common in politics and he expected such incidents, the release said.
Karunanidhi also thanked Prakash, who told him that the Karnataka government had taken all security measures.
Meanwhile, leaders of various political parties in Tamil Nadu, including Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder-leader Dr S Ramadoss, Dravidar Kazhagam President K Veeramani and Puthiya Tamizhagam leader Dr K Krishnasamy condemned the incident.
Karunanidhi expects Karnataka govt to take action on miscreants
UNI
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday hoped that the Karnataka Government would take action against those involved in the violent attack on his daughter's residence in Bangalore last night.
Talking to newspersons here, he said the government would remain steadfast in prevailing upon the Centre to implement the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP).
Suspected Sangh Parivar activists attacked the house of Selvi, Karunanidhi's daughter in the posh JP Nagar in Bangalore, by pelting stones, hurling petrol bombs, damaging window panes and ornamental lights last night.
The 15-member group raised slogans against Karunanidhi for his remarks on Lord Ram and Ramsethu. A handwritten poster threatening Karunanidhi and Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu, with dire consequences was pasted on the house.
Selvi, the chief of Sun TV group's Udaya Kannada TV channel and her husband Selvam, were out-of-station when the incident happened.
Karunanidhi had more than 90 minutes talk with Union Health Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss and Minister of State for Railways R Velu at his Gopalapuram residence here.
Velu discussed with Karunanidhi the inaugural function of the Salem Railway Division and informed him that the function could be held in the first week of November.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad would be taking part in the function, he said.
Dr Anbumani Ramadoss said he discussed with Chief Minister, the Centre's move on compulsory rural posting for medicos.
Karunanidhi suggested that he (Dr Ramadoss) should allay the apprehensions in the minds of medicos on this issue.
Law and order has collapsed under JDS-BJP regime: Cong.
PTI
Bangalore: The Karnataka unit of the Congress on Wednesday condemned the torching of a Tamil Nadu-registered bus in which two persons were charred to death and charged that the law and order has collapsed under the JDS-BJP regime.
"If this is the situation, what will happen to the state if the JDS handed over power to the BJP," state unit Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge said at a press conference, expressing apprehension about the law and order sitution.
Kharge also condemned the attack on the residence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter.
Asked on what basis he has come to a conclusion that Sangh Parivar activists were behind these attacks, he said "I am not saying anything. It is for the government to find out and punish the culprits."