There was hardly any response to the North Karnataka bandh call on Thursday given by the Uttar Karnataka Raita Sangha seeking statehood even as it was yet another normal day for residents of the northern districts.
Although the Utttar Karnataka Pratyeka Rajya Horata Samiti withdrew the bandh call on Wednesday following an assurance given by the Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy that he would addressing the main demands, Uttar Karnataka Raita Sangha had said that it would go ahead with the bandh call claiming that it had the support of 23 different organisations. But the call hardly evoked any response.
Amid the confusion over the bandh call with one organisation withdrawing it and another going ahead with it, people did not show much interest and went ahead with their routine. As announced, the samiti members staged symbolic protests at district centres and submitted memoranda addressed to the Chief Minister seeking corrective measures to mitigate the injustice done to North Karnataka.
And, as many pro-Kannada organisations, trade bodies and others did not extended support to the bandh call, shopkeepers kept their shops open and business establishments functioned normally. Schools and colleges functioned normally. However, there was a slight reduction in attendance in colleges as students dependent on public transport to reach their colleges, chose to stay indoors.
In Hubballi, under the aegis of the Uttar Karnataka Raita Sangha, some farmers and women, staged a demonstration at the Kittur Chennamma Circle and in front of the office of the Hubballi tahsildar before submitting a memorandum condemning the neglect of North Karnataka. They raised slogans demanding statehood. Speaking to presspersons, Sri Shadakshari Swami of Raja Vidyashrama, Hubballi, lambasted the State government for the neglect of North Karnataka. He also criticised president of the Uttar Karnataka Pratyeka Rajya Horata Samiti Somashekhar Kotambri for unilaterally withdrawing the bandh call.
Similar protests were held across the districts of North Karnataka, mainly the district headquarters, including Dharwad, Haveri, Gadag, Belagavi, Vijayapura and Bagalkot where the bandh call evoked little response.