Newskarnataka-Mangalore
Mangalore : The decision of the Naringana Gram Panchayat to open a bar at Thoudugoli, a border area between Karnataka and Kerala has invited the ire of the locals who are now up in arms against the Panchayat.
On September 10, Tuesday, hundreds of locals staged a protest in front of the Gram Panchayat office.
Addressing the protestors, the Manjeshwar Mandal unit of the Congress took the Panchayat to task for keeping the public in the dark regarding the sanction granted for the bar. He also urged the health minister UT Khader to intervene and ensure steps to see that the bar is not opened.
Imtiyaz, President of the Mangalore unit of the DYFI who also spoke, took the panchayat to task for granting the no-objection letter for the bar and said it only gave room for suspicion that the Panchayat was acting hand in gloves with the bar owners.
The villagers said they have already submitted memoranda to the District in-charge Minister Ramanatha Rai, District Administration and other authorities in this regard. They allege that the liquor mafia had tried to use an influential Muslim leader as a middleman in this business considering the large Muslim population in the village.
Prominent among the protestors were Moosakunhi, Manjeshwar block panchayat committee President, Varkady Gram Panchayat committee President Nicholas Monteiro and Thoudugoli Jamat Vice President Ahmed Kunhi