Lawyers’ stir shuts down Hubli-Dharwad

The cities wore a deserted look with public transport vehicles, including auto-rickshaws, keeping off the roads and all shops, schools, and colleges staying closed for the day.

Banks were especially targeted by protestors in both the cities. At Dharwad, stones were pelted at the offices of the Corporation Bank, Vysya Bank, Dena Bank, Malhaprabha Grameena Bank, Syndicate Bank and KCC Bank. The Dena Bank office was ransacked and its manager manhandled.

Relay on All India Radio and Doordarshan was stopped for about half-an-hour and three trains, the Miraj-Hubli passenger, Bangalore-Mumbai CST, and Mumbai-Bangalore Express were stopped.

The University of Agriculture Sciences, which had kept open, was forced to close down for a week. Vice-Chancellor M Mahadevappa, who agreed to close the varsity for a day, was persuaded to send out a circular declaring a week’s holiday.

There were stray incidents of stone-pelting at the Karnatak University in the chemistry, botany and zoology departments, with Vice-Chancellor A M Pathan later declaring the varsity closed for the day.

The lawyers’ procession started around noon and was inaugurated by litterateur Shantadevi Malwad. More than 5,000 advocates participated in it. The agitators demanded a separate state for North Karnataka. B D Hiremath, president of the Dharwad Bar Association, led the lawyers. BJP members, who started off with the lawyers, later branched out. The BJP also held a bike rally. Among the leaders who participated were T S Patil, Shivanand Holehadagali, Datta Dorle, Chandru Neelgand and Chandrakant Bellad, MLA. The procession teminated at the court premises where B D Hiremath, Mohan Nagammanavar, Gururaj Hunasimarad, and several others spoke.

At Hubli, the LIC office near the Post office, Kailash Hotel, Bank of India, and some shops were pelted with stones on Lamington Road. The slogan-shouting processionists, who went through the main thoroughfares of the city, even pelted stones at offices and shops which had closed down. The advocates began the procession from the Court premises and went through the main streets before returning to their starting point. C R Patil, president of the Hubli Bar Association, led the advocates. A BJP procession, which started from Dajibanpet, went through the same route, though separately. Both the processions converged at the Court premises. MP Vijayanand Sankeshwar, leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Jagadeesh Shettar, former MLA Ashok Katwe, City unit president Prahlad Joshi, Madan Desai, Rangabaddi were some of the leaders who participated in the BJP rally. The ABVP also took part.

Jabbar Khan Honnalli, Cong MLA, who participated in the advocates’ procession, urged the people to accept the Government proposal for a circuit bench, but this was booed down by the crowd. When he finished speaking, some youths followed him out of the court, apparently to ask for his resignation, but he left on time.

Jagadeesh Shettar, Sankeshwar, Prahlad Joshi, C R Patil, all spoke of their determination to continue with the agitation till the High Court bench was established.

Schools, colleges, business establishments, theatres, restaurants and even small shops remained closed. Buses were not plying on roads till late evening with the road transport authorities saying that things would get underway when the police gave a green signal. Autorickshaws and other public transport vehicles, including maxi-cabs between Hubli Dharwad also kept off the roads. The only vehicles to be seen were two-wheelers, that too few in number. People were seen carrying luggage from the railway station. Hospitals and drugs shops, however, stayed open.

An emergency meeting of the Hubli Bar Association has been called at 11 am on Tuesday.