Mangalore newspaper offices attacked over Taslima article

Violent protests against Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen’s purported article spread on Tuesday night to Mangalore, where the offices of the newspaper which published it was attacked by a group of miscreants.

However, the situation in Shimoga and Hassan towns, which had witnessed violent protests on Monday, remained under control with no fresh untoward incident.

In Mangalore, miscreants forced their way into the building housing the office of The New Indian Express and its sister publication Kannada Prabha, which published the article on burqa tradition in its Sunday magazine section, and hurled a petrol bomb.

They also threatened the staff of the daily with ‘dire consequences’ if it carried any more such ‘offensive’ articles, said the police. The building housing the two newspapers was being guarded by a few policemen, but the attackers still managed to escape.

The office of Jai Kirana, a local English daily, was stoned, said the police. At least seven computers were damaged in the attack on the Kannada daily’s office.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa’s home town Shimoga showed signs of returning to normalcy after Monday’s protests that left two persons dead, including one in police firing.