The Hindu
Mangalore, Mar 12: In an act of defiance against the district administration’s drive to pull down buntings, posters and flags advertising the Hindu Samajotsava programme scheduled for March 15, activists, allegedly belonging to the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), went around forcibly fixing saffron flags on vehicles near Bunts Hostel on Wednesday.
As the Hindutva activists stopped buses, autorickshaws and even private vehicles to fix flags, traffic came to a standstill. People could do little but wait until the Mangalore East police arrived on the scene. The police reined in the activists and cleared the road.
‘No warning’
Speaking to The Hindu, Sub-Inspector Shivaprasad M. said the police had no warning about the incident. While the district administration’s contention was that the advertisements and flags violated the model code of conduct stipulated by the Election Commission, the vice-president of the VHP, Jagadeesh Shenava, said, “Our banners are non-political, yet they have been removed.”
He stressed that the flags and banners were religious in nature and did not violate the code of conduct.
Mr. Shenava said, “The Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police should not interfere in this. This is only to publicise the upcoming Hindu Samajotsava programme.” Stressing that the buntings were in contravention of the model code of conduct, Deputy Commissioner V. Ponnuraj told The Hindu that the code was being implemented through various Acts and rules.
He said the posters, buntings and flags were removed by invoking the provisions of the Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981 and the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.