Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has ordered an inquiry into the incident in which policemen stopped three Dalit ministers on their way to Mysore Palace for ‘Nandi flag puja’ on Tuesday. The CM directed Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh to identify those responsible and submit a report.
CM said- this will not be tolerated
CM Shivakumar said in a post on
The viral video footage of this incident shows that when Minister Narendraswami, K. S. Basavantappa and Shivraj Tangdagi were following the Chief Minister towards the place of worship when a police officer stopped them. After the intervention of the CM, he was allowed to proceed.
This is the video where police officers are seen stopping the ministers-
Opposition parties criticized
Opposition parties BJP and JDS have criticized this incident. He alleges that the ministers were insulted because they come from the Dalit community. BJP has also shared the footage of this incident on social media.
What did Minister Basavantappa say?
Muzrai minister Basavantappa said he was not told about any protocol where a minister was not allowed to go, and demanded action against the officials involved in the matter. He said, “If there was such a protocol, we would have known. There were no restrictions on the movement of ministers. I do not understand why we were stopped, even though the authorities knew that we were ministers.”
What did the Deputy CM say on the political dispute?
Whereas Deputy CM G. God tried to downplay this incident. Advising not to give it a caste colour, he said that the police were implementing security and protocol arrangements during that programme. He said, “Initially the ministers were stopped, while the Chief Minister went ahead. Later the Chief Minister came back and took him with him. The police were doing their job. There is no need to create unnecessary controversy over this matter.”
G. got angry on repeatedly calling ministers “Dalit ministers”. God
Objecting to ministers being repeatedly referred to as “Dalit ministers”, Parameshwara questioned why they could not just be called “ministers”? He asked, “Should every person be identified by his caste? Are ministers from other communities also identified by their caste?” He admitted that some mistakes might have been made, but added that such mistakes should not become such a big controversy. He said, “I am not saying that no mistakes were made. Such mistakes can happen. But it is not right to make such a small mistake into such a big controversy.”
Let us tell you that every year the Nandi flag is worshiped at the main gate of Mysuru Palace before the Jumbo ride. This is not a temple or idol, it is just a flag which is installed near the Hanuman temple at Balram Gate.
(Note- It has been said off the record by the police department that the officers were instructed to allow only the CM for Nandi flag puja, there should not be too much crowd with him, due to this misunderstanding the police officer also stopped 3 ministers. But the CM scolded him right there and took the ministers with him.)
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