A video of a student in Belagavi being beaten up after waving a flag with Karnataka state colours has gone viral, triggering protests by pro-Kannada organisations on Thursday, December 1. Activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike and other organisations were detained by the police for blocking the Belagavi-Goa highway and burning tyres in protest. The viral video was of an incident that took place during a college fest at the Gogte PU College earlier on Wednesday. In the video, a large group of students in uniform can be seen jumping and dancing to the music. As one of them raises a Karnataka flag with red and yellow colours, some students are then seen pushing and beating him.
A few of those who staged protests in front of the college even tried to barge in and were detained by the police. The protesters demanded action against those who allegedly assaulted the student for displaying the Karnataka state flag. These protests have arisen at a time when the Supreme Court is set to hear Maharashtra’s plea on the decades-long border dispute with Karnataka, over the inclusion of Belagavi and other border villages in Maharashtra. A group of Maharashtra ministers, who are members of a high-power committee on the border dispute issue, are also scheduled to visit Belagavi on December 6, for which security has been heightened by police along the border.
The boy who was assaulted, as well as the protesters, have also accused the police of abusing and assaulting him when he went to the police station to lodge a complaint. The police said they are looking into the allegations of assault at the station, and have instructed students not to bring the language issue to the college. Additional police personnel have been deployed near the college and surrounding areas to ensure that no untoward incident takes place, they said.
A 2nd PUC student beaten up for holding #KarnatakaFlag at #Gogte college #Belagavi during inter college fest yesterday. He was beaten up by his classmates for holding the flag. Cops inform the students support #Maharashtra. Hence, they were upset. Cops are inquiring the matter. pic.twitter.com/p5VisPG3Q6
— Hate Detector (@HateDetectors) December 1, 2022
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Ravindra Gadadi told the Times of India that all the students involved in the incident were Kannada speakers and that the student was assaulted for stepping over another student, and not over a linguistic or border dispute. He also denied the allegations of assault by the police.
Former Chief Minister of Karnataka and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy lashed out at the state government and the police over the incident. Condemning the attack on the student and the alleged assault by the police when he went to lodge a complaint, Kumaraswamy said in a tweet, “It is a big betrayal to Kannada and Karnataka that the police brutally attacked the student who went to complain.”
“Confusion is increasing in Belgaum after the BJP government came to power. It is clear that Kannada and Kannadigas are not safe in the hands of BJP which uses every sensitive issue for politics,” Kumaraswamy tweeted.
Meanwhile, the Gogte PU College said in a statement that the management would conduct a review of the incident and take appropriate action against the perpetrators, Indian Express reported.
With PTI inputs
ರಾಜ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ @BJP4Karnataka ಸರಕಾರ ಬಂದ ಮೇಲೆ ಬೆಳಗಾವಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಗೊಂದಲ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಪ್ರತಿ ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮ ವಿಷಯವನ್ನು ರಾಜಕೀಯಕ್ಕೆ ಬಳಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಬಿಜೆಪಿಯ ಕೈಯ್ಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡ ಮತ್ತು ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರು ಸುರಕ್ಷಿತವಾಗಿಲ್ಲ ಎನ್ನುವುದು ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟ. ಬೆಳಗಾವಿ ವಿಷಯ ಗಮನಿಸಿದರೆ ಅದು ಅರ್ಥವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.4/4
— ಹೆಚ್.ಡಿ.ಕುಮಾರಸ್ವಾಮಿ | H.D.Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) December 1, 2022