Muslim clerics meet Yediyurappa, demand judicial probe into DJ Halli violence

Bengaluru: Over a dozen Muslim clergymen met Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Tuesday and demanded that the state government order an independent judicial inquiry commission to probe into the D.J. Halli violence that took place last month.

The clergymen, led by Ameer-E-Shariat Karnataka, Moulana Sageer Ahmed, submitted a memorandum to the CM and strongly appealed that the state government should also act resiliently on those tried to spread communal hate by posting indecent messages on social media sites.

Maulana Maqsood Imran Rashadi, Imam, Jama Masjid, appealed the state government to take steps to releases innocent Muslim accused, who have been booked in this case. "The police have picked more than 300 people till date for their alleged role in the D.J. Hall violence, but in reality, there are many innocents too who have been picked up. At least they must be let off is our primary demand," he expaliend.

The memorandum stated that the main idea of seeking an independent judicial commission is to know the real truth as to who instigated P. Naveen, nephew of Congress MLA Srinivasamurthy, to post such posts on social media.

According to the memorandum, the community strongly suspects this entire episode is orchestrated by someone who is hiding behind Naveen, who wanted to disturb the communal peace in the state.

The memorandum further added that the state government's decision to invoke draconian Unlawful Activates (Prevention) Act (UAPA). "Invocation of such draconian law would ruin the entire life of innocents, hence the state should not invoke this act in a hurried manner," it read.

The note also added that the state government should take stringent action against all those spreading religious hate using social media platforms.

It may be recalled that the violence began after religious sentiments were offended following an objectionable post on Facebook, by P. Naveen.

Earlier, he had hailed the Bhumi Pujan in Ayodhya as a victory for Hindus. He is the nephew of Congress MLA from Pulakeshinagar, Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy. Murthy, a Dalit leader, had defected from the JD(S) to Congress before the last poll and won it too at the chagrin of the Congress bigwigs who had been eying the seat.

In this incident, the legislator's house was torched by rioters and in a bid to quell the rioters, the police opened fire in which three people lost their lives.A The police then swooped down and arrested more than 300 persons so far in this connection.