Mangaluru police have eliminated banners on the Kadri Sri Manjunatha temple honest that prohibited Muslims from conducting enterprise exercise close to the temple, officers stated on Friday.
In accordance with police, the banners had been put up by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal on Thursday, following which they had been eliminated on the identical day. The temple honest began on January 15 and can finish on January 21.
Police stated the banners talked about the cooker bomb blast in Mangaluru final yr and alleged that the first goal of the accused within the case was the Kadri Manjunatha temple, police stated.
The banner additionally stated individuals with such a mindset and those that opposed idol worship can’t interact in commerce and enterprise in the course of the honest close to the place of worship, police stated.
The banners additionally acknowledged that solely merchants who believed within the rituals and ceremonies of the Hindu faith could be allowed to proceed with their commerce and enterprise, police stated.
The temple administration, which falls below the spiritual endowment division, didn’t approve of the banner that was put up within the neighborhood of the temple honest and knowledgeable the police.
A senior police officer stated that because the temple administration got here below the spiritual endowment division and so they knowledgeable the police, the banners had been taken down.
“We’ve got taken down the banners to keep away from any law-and-order situation, however since there is no such thing as a police criticism, we’ve not lodged any FIR within the matter,” stated a senior officer.
Since an Improvised Explosive Gadget (IED) blast in an autorickshaw rocked Karnataka on November 19, 2022, the state police beefed up the safety at Kadri temple, which was rumoured to be the goal.
The explosion was reported in an auto-rickshaw in Mangaluru, injuring the motive force, Purshottam Pujari, and the passenger, Mohammed Shariq (24), additionally the prime accused within the case.
Extra safety was offered on the temple after the temple authorities’ approached the police. Kadri temple government officer P Jayamma stated the police safety request was made after social media posts began doing rounds indicating Kadri temple was the goal.
Since March final yr, campaigns concentrating on Muslim companies have been underway in Karnataka. What began with the eviction of Muslim merchants from temple premises has snowballed into calls for for boycotting halal meat, buy of gold from Muslim institutions, taking cabs pushed by Muslims and even a name to not buy mangos from the minority neighborhood.
Within the first incident, final March banners got here up round no less than eight temples in Karnataka banning Muslim merchants in the course of the temple festivals. Banners have emerged outdoors temples in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Shivamooga districts saying the ban, and one in all them, in Dakshina Kannada district, learn: “No permission for individuals who are in opposition to Structure and those that kill cattle.”