At a time when the whole country is celebrating its 76th Independence Day on Monday, a group of people in Karnataka's Shivamogga protested against attempts to remove a poster of Hindu idealogue VD Savarkar, that was put up at Ameer Ahmad circle, sparking a row.
Tension prevailed after a group of Tipu Sultan followers tried to remove VD Savarkar's banners to put up Tipu Sultan's poster. To bring the situation under control, police resorted to lathi-charge. The Shivamogga police have imposed Section 144 as a clash erupted between both the groups at Ameer Ahmad Circle.
Amidst the ongoing tension in Shivamogga, Muslim youths stabbed a person named Dharam Singh.
Meanwhile, in a similar incident, a flex banner erected at the Surathkal junction in Mangaluru naming the circle after Savarkar was removed after Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) workers raised objections to it. SDPI's Surathkal unit expressed their objection to the banner and brought it to the notice of the police. The corporation removed the banner on Sunday evening after corporation commissioner Akshay Sridhar issued the orders for the same.
Mangaluru city corporation had earlier approved a proposal to name the circle after Savarkar on a request from Mangaluru North BJP MLA Y Bharath Shetty. The civic body is awaiting the government's permission to officially name the circle. Sridhar said the corporation council had approved the proposal to name the circle after Savarkar. As the government is yet to officially grant permission, the flex banner was removed in view of the complaints.
A local leader of SDPI said the issue was brought to the notice of the police as Surathkal is a communally sensitive area. He also said the SDPI is against the naming of the circle after Savarkar.
(With inputs from agencies)