Maruti Manpade, Asgar Chulbul, Nasir Hussein Ustad, Arif Ali, and other leaders of the Karnataka People’s Forum, a conglomerate of different organisations, community outfits and individuals, called upon the people to celebrate Holi peacefully.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, they said that they had already met Deputy Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of Police requesting them to take all precautionary measures to ensure peaceful celebrations.
“This is the land of Sufi saints and Sharanas who advocated peaceful co-existence of different communities and religions. The region has always maintained harmony even during the worst communal tensions prevailing across the country. We want this to continue. We urge the people to celebrate this Holi peacefully as usual not falling prey to the hatemongers. The police should have a focused vigilance on the anti-social elements, irrespective of their religious backgrounds, who tend to disturb the peace during the celebrations,” Mr. Manpade appealed to the people.
“We have met both the Deputy Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of Police and discussed the precautionary measures to be taken to ensure peaceful celebrations. CCTV cameras have been installed at 57 locations across Kalaburagi city, many of which are defunct. The police officers have promised us that they would repair them apart from installing 70 more CCTV cameras in vital locations. We have also requested the department to deploy more forces in the communally sensitive areas,” Mr. Chulbul said.
The leaders also demanded that the police nab the culprits who had recently written a pro-Pakistan slogan on the wall of a house terming the incident as “an attempt to disturb the peace and trigger communal violence in the otherwise peaceful city”.
