Muslim forum stages protest against discrimination by govt

Mangaluru: Hundreds of workers of the Muslim Aikyatha Vedike on Friday staged a protest in front of the clock tower in the city against the Karnataka government’s alleged discriminatory approach in the investigation into the murder of Fazil at Surathkal and Masood in Bellare.

Dakshina Kannada district had witnessed three murders within a month at Bellare and Surathkal. While probe into the murder of BJP youth wing leader Praveen Nattar is being pursued vigorously, investigation into the other two murders is on at a slow pace, the workers alleged.

The case relating to the murder of Masood at Bellare, which is said to be the provocation for Praveen’s killing, is not being properly investigated into. The murder of Fazil at Surathkal, which was allegedly a retaliatory attack by Hindu activists after Praveen’s murder, is also not being actively pursued, they alleged.

The Muslim forum said while the government announced compensation to the family of Praveen Nettar and handed over the amount immediately after the murder, no compensation had been announced for the families of the other two victims.

Nettar’s case was handed over to NIA and the Chief Minister had visited his house. No Minister had bothered to visit the families of the Muslim victims, they said. While the accused in the Praveen murder case were charged under UAPA, this was not applied in the other two murder cases which showed the government’s bias in the probe, workers of the Vedike said.