Have received no apology from Karnataka Home minister:Guha

Historian Ramachandra Guha on Thursday refuted Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai's

claim that the latter had apologised for police allegedly manhandling him during an anti-CAA protest in the city, saying

he received no such call or apology. The writer further said even if such an apology had

been offered, he would have rejected it. "The Home Minister of Karnataka has claimed on the

floor of the State Assembly that he apologised to me by phone for the manhandling by the Bengaluru police on 19th December

2019. This is false. I received no such call or apology," Guha tweeted.

"Even if such an apology had been offered, I would have rejected it.

The imposition of Section 144 was illegal (as the Karnataka High Court has since held) and I was proud to be one

of thousands of peaceful protesters who defied the States arbitrary action on that day," he said in another tweet.

During his reply to the debate on law and order situation in the state, Bommai on Wednesday claimed that he

had apologised to Guha. The minister was apologising to senior Congress MLA

and former Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar for police serving him notice and detaining him along with others at Mangaluru

airport in December for trying to enter the city despite restrictions following violence there.

Stating that anti-CAA protests have taken place peacefully across the state, he had said, there might have

been minor discrepancies, like that of historian Ramachandra Guh, being manhandled during a protest.

"I have called and apologised to him," he had said. Guha was detained on December 19 for staging a

demonstration against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens at the Town Hall here, in

defiance of the prohibitory orders imposed in the city. He was taken away by police personnel and led to a

police vehicle parked nearby. Leader of Opposition in the assembly and former Chief

Minister Siddaramaiah said Bommai has committed a "perjury" in the House, and asked him to apologise to people and Guha in

front of media. "Bommai has committed a perjury on the floor of the

House. It answers the question of where @BJP4India workers derive their motivation to spread fake news.

Bommai has insulted the people whom he represents," he tweeted and demanded that he apologize to people and Guha.

PTI KSU BN BN