SDPI activists arrested for demanding Tipu Sultan portrait in I-day yatra

Mangaluru: Three workers of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), Azeez, Shameer, and Abdul Rahman were arrested and sent to judicial custody. The three have been alleged of obstructing Independence Day Rath Yatra and demanding the installation of a portrait of Tipu Sultan in Kabaka Gram Panchayat near Puttur in Mangaluru.

The gram panchayat had taken out a Swaraj Rath Yatra as part of the country's 75th independence day. Of the several freedom fighters installed in the rath was also one of BJP ideologue Veer Savarkar. Local SDPI allegedly staged a protest at the onset of the yatra and obstructed its movement, demanding the installation of a portrait of Tipu Sultan. They raised slogans against Savarkar and the panchayat. The police who arrived at the spot quelled the protest.

"We don't tolerate Taliban style in Karnataka. I have spoken to the home minister in this regard. If they have faith in the constitution they should behave in a democratic way," state BJP Chief Nalin Kumar Kateel maintained.

Local MLA Sanjeeva Matandoor said that Kabaka village wouldn't be allowed to turn into a Kashmir. An investigation is ongoing in this regard.