MYSURU: The city police on Tuesday thwarted two rallies to Chamundi Hills — one by Hindu Jagarana Vedike to oppose the selection of Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the Dasara celebrations and another by Dalit groups in support of her nomination.
Though the police had denied permission for both rallies, a large number of Hindu activists had gathered at the junction leading up to Chamundi Hills. On the other hand, a Dalit activists had also assembled there.
While the police managed to convince the Dalit groups and sent them away, they detained over 300 Hindu activists in police vehicles including former MP Pratap Simha, MLA V Srivatsa, former MLA L Nagendra and others.
The Hindu activists sat on the ground at the KSRP ground and in front of the Alanahalli police station where the police detained them and offered puja to Goddess Chamundeshwari, chanting bhajans and raising slogans. They also demanded that they be allowed darshan of Goddess Chamundeshwari and refused to budge from the spot.
Over 500 police personnel had been deployed at the junction leading to Chamundi Hills to prevent the activists. Due to this, devotees too faced inconvenience.
