Updated on
Summary
Clashes erupted in Hassan and Shimoga cities of India's southern Karnataka state following publication of a controversial translated article of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen in a leading Kannada daily.Tension broke in Hassan when unidentified miscreants pelted stones on commercial establishments during a procession. As per media reports, several vehicles and shops were set ablaze. About 1500 people took to streets earlier on Monday to express anguish over the Kannada translation of Nasreen's article on burqa (veil) tradition. The clashes took a communal turn when activists of several Hindu radical organisations also took to streets and started pelting stones on each other. Reportedly, situation was more serious in Shimoga district where protestors burnt about a dozen two wheelers, two tractors, two auto-rickshaws and pelted stones. Media reports say that one person was killed when police opened fire to quell the rioters in Shimoga. Another person succumbed to injuries sustained in stone pelting. Several people were critically injured and were hospitalised in both the districts following protests by Muslims over publication of Nasreen's article. Concerned state authorities have imposed prohibitory orders in the both the districts to control the situation. Several vehicles including state transport corporation busses were damaged when protestors in the procession turned violent. Nasreen's articles have sparked controversies earlier as well. Many radical Muslims hate this renowned writer for her critical opinion on religion that she has termed as an oppressive force. Nasreen fled Bangladesh for the first time in 1994 when a court said she had 'deliberately and maliciously' hurt Muslims' religious feelings in her Bengali-language novel 'Lajja' meaning shame.
