Two persons died and eight injured over a protest against publication of an article of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen on the burqa in a vernacular daily in Shimoga district, Karnataka on Monday.

Protesting the article’s publication, people went out on a march and burnt two tractors, two autos, 12 two-wheelers and they also threw stones at buses and buildings. The police had to open fire to stop the procession. One among the deceased died in police firing whereas the other died during the march. The two persons killed are Mustafa and Ataulla.

There was protest regarding this issue in Hassan also but as reported by home minister P V Acharya, the situation is much under control though the protestors burned two-wheelers and shops and also threw stones on buildings and buses. The police arrested around 2 dozens of people for protesting.

Curfew continued in both the districts till Tuesday morning. Less police force was deployed in Shimoga as most police men were deployed in other locations due to Holi.

The community leaders have been appealed by district administration not to continue the procession. In Hassan many shops were forcibly closed in protest. Jeevenkumar V Gaonkar, IGP (southern range) said that the situation is quite normal now but the towns will be under policing for the next two days.

Police commissioner Sunil Agarwal said, “So far, no incident has been reported in the city, but we don’t want to take chances.”

Karnataka home minister P V Acharya said, “We have ensured an elaborate bandobust in all 30 districts of the state and prohibitory orders have been clamped in several sensitive districts.”