Khader demands probe into arms training at Kodagu school

Coming down heavily on the initiation of ‘Trishula Deekshe’ and imparting training in firearms to Hindu activists at a school in Kodagu district in the presence of elected representatives, Mangalore MLA and Deputy Leader of Opposition in the legislative assembly U T Khader said such incidents show the “Taliban culture” being supported by the state government.

Instead of handing over pens and books to children in the schools, imparting firearm training to activists in the school is condemnable and it looks like the government has outsourced the "goondaism culture" to the members of various organisations, Khader told mediapersons.

Training in firearms is imparted to NCC cadets by the competent authority of the government. He wanted to know whether permission was sought from the Deputy Commissioner or the Superintendent of Police for imparting training in a school premises in Kodagu. The State government, Home Minister and Education Minister should reveal the purpose of such training for the activists.

Also Read | Arms training at school: BEO seeks explanation

“In case if the training is imparted for self protection as claimed by the organisers, then self-protection training should be imparted for all the schoolchildren.What would have been the reactions in the state if such training was imparted by Seva Dal of the Congress or by other backward communities? he sought to know. There is a need to conduct a probe into the incident, he said.

No new schools

The MLA said that neither new government primary schools nor high schools or PU colleges were being sanctioned in Karnataka after the BJP government came to power. Even the recruitment of teachers to government schools has remained incomplete. All the uniforms and textbooks have failed to reach the schools in spite of classes being reopened after the summer vacation.

The government has even failed to release funds for repairing the school buildings and classrooms. Although white rice is still served to children in schools under the mid-day meal scheme, the children in coastal districts do not like to consume white rice.

To a query on Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja’s statement that he does not require Muslim votes, U T Khader said he do not like to react to such immature statements. “It is cheap politics. The people of Belthangady will reply. Those who had misused the Endosulfan victims by staging protests in Bengaluru have failed to chalk out any new programmes for the welfare of Endosulfan victims in the state,” he added.

When asked about RSS founder Baliram Hedgewar’s speech in the Kannada textbook for students of class 10, the MLA said that contents in textbooks should teach the children the need for unity and motivate them.