FIR filed against 46 SFI activists

FIR filed against 46 SFI activists

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Nov 2, 2012: The police have filed a first information report (FIR) against 46 activists of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), who created a disturbance on the occasion of Karnataka Rajyothsava celebrations on Nehru Maidan on Nov 1, Thursday. Many of them are minor students.

The protestors began protesting as soon as District-in-charge Minister C. T. Ravi began speaking.

Their grouse was that Prof. Govinda of New Delhi had recommended the shutting down of several Kannada medium schools in Karnataka.

According to police sources, the protestors were put behind bars for over 2 hours. Asha Nayak, president of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) spoke to the police about this case. Stating that the students have the right to protest against violation of rights, she said that she doesn’t think their intention was to disrupt the celebrations.

The SFI had called a press meet on Oct 29 to urge the government to reject Prof. Govinda’s report and not close down the schools. The report suggests the shutting down of 12,740 government Kannada medium schools.

Voicing his opinion about the issue, DYFI District President Muneer Katipalla said that the students cannot be treated like criminals for protesting against the closure of Kannada medium schools. He also urged the government to cancel its plan to shut down Kannada medium schools.