ABVP activists continued their protests across Karnataka to arrest Amnesty International India’s representatives

Bengaluru, Aug 18: Akhila Bharatiya Vidharthi Parishad (ABVP) activists continued their protests across the State on Wednesday, stepping up pressure on the State government to arrest Amnesty International India’s representatives and those who raised anti-India slogans at an event last week.

“Hundreds of youth, including teenage girls, staged peaceful protests in many cities like Kolar, Hubballi, Belagavi and Mangaluru across the state against Amnesty members who held the August 13 event where slogans were raised against our country and our army by some participants. Even the city police commissioner had said that slogans like ‘humey azadi chahiye’ (we want freedom) were raised at the event where a play was enacted showing the Indian army in bad light,” ABVP convenor Prem told reporters here.

Continuing protest for the third day in state capital Bengaluru, about 500 ABVP activists took out a rally from the Mysore Bank circle to the Freedom Park and staged a demonstration seeking stringent action against the culprits.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner N.S. Megharikh on Tuesday night confirmed that ‘azadi’ (freedom) slogans were raised at a programme Amnesty organsied here on alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Towards the end of the programme, a group of persons who were among the audience raised slogans seeking ‘azadi’. When the situation was getting volatile, the organisers suspended the programme and the police dispersed the people gathered there,” said Megharik in a belated statement.

At Belagavi, about 500 km from here, about 300 students from various colleges formed a human chain at Basaveshwar circle and staged protest against the Amnesty and the state government