Border sentinels ahead of the Amarnath Yatra Women personnel of the Border Security Force keep vigil near the India-Pakistan border ahead of the annual Amarnath Yatra that begins on July 3, in Jammu on Tuesday. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said security preparations for the pilgrimage are complete | PTI bengaluru l wednesday l june 04, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 22 l late city EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI royals are kings ee sala cup namdu No Thug Life release in K’taka on June 5, no apology from Kamal Yat h i r a j u @ Bengaluru Royal Challengers Bengaluru with the trophy after winning the 18th edition of the IPL in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. RCB defeated PBKS by 6 runs | PTI | P17 Opposition parties write to Modi Cricketing analogy to explain victory Using a cricketing metaphor to draw a clear distinction between initial setbacks and the overall outcome of Operation Sindoor, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said, “Suppose you go into a cricket test match and you win by an innings, then there is no question of wickets and balls etc.” Professional militaries are not affected by temporary losses | P9 The 16 signatories to the joint letter The Congress, SP, TMC, DMK, National Conference, Uddhav Sena, RJD, JMM, CPI(M), IUML, CPI, RSP, VCK, Kerala Congress, MDMK, CPI(ML) Liberation are the 16 signatories to the letter Govt not keen since Monsoon session is weeks away 16 parties press PM to call spl session of Parliament P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Stepping up pressure on the Modi government on the demand for a Special Session of Parliament in the wake of Operation Sindoor, leaders of 16 Opposition parties, including Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and Abhishek Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue. Senior opposition leaders, who held a meeting in the capital said the session was needed to discuss a series of events, including the Pahalgam attack, followed by Operation Sindoor, US President Donald Trump’s claim of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, and the death of civilians in border areas in Pakistan shelling. The letter was released after the meeting. Opposition leaders said they stood with the government after the Pahalgam attack, and through Op Sindoor, adding that their demand for a special session must be met. “There are serious questions facing the nation about the terror attack, killing of civilians in Poonch, Uri and Rajouri, the ceasefire announcements, and the implications on national security and foreign policy. We have supported the government’s efforts to engage with the international community on India’s position. The government has briefed foreign nations and the media, but not Parliament, keeping the people of India and their elected representatives in the dark,” said the letter. However, according to sources, the government is not keen on holding a special session as the Monsoon session is scheduled for the second week of July . TMC’s Derek O’Brien said the decision to make a joint effort to demand a special session was made by the presidents of the respective parties, and not just the Parliamentary Party leaders. However, the Aam Aadmi Party wrote a separate letter to the PM raising the same demand. IT is an uncertain life for Kamal Haasan’s Thug Life on screens in Kar nataka. The movie will not be released in the state as part of its worldwide release on June 5, with the actor refusing to submit an apology for his controversial remark ‘Kannada is born out of Tamil’ despite an oral suggestion by the Karnataka High Court. Senior counsel Dhyan Chinnappa, representing petitioner Raajkamal Films International (RKFI), for which Kamal is a director, told the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday that the actor would not apologise since there was no malice in his statement. The counsel said Kamal had already communicated his explanation to the Karnataka Film Chamber of C o m m e r c e (KFCC) that his Taken out of context: Kamal to KFCC prez In a two-page open letter addressed to KFCC President Narasimhulu, Kamal Haasan expressed regret over the misunderstanding, clarifying that his statements were “taken out of context” and never intended to “diminish Kannada in any way” | P7 intention is not to diminish Kannada in anyway . When Justice M Nagaprasanna asked why Kamal did not add a sentence of apology in his letter to KFCC, “which is a declaration of justification of his statement”, Chinnappa said that an apolo g y is required where there is malice but Kamal had no ill intention while making the statement in question.  CONTINUED ON P7 express read BJP, JDS may contest ZP, TP polls separately 4 die of suffocation in septic tank in Odisha BENGALURU: BJP and JDS, which are in an alliance in Karnataka, may choose to go separate ways while contesting TP and ZP polls. The alliance was formed ahead of LS polls and the two parties have been together in all later polls, including Assembly bypolls | P4 Umerkote: Four persons were asphyxiated to death after being reportedly trapped in an underconstruction septic tank in Nandahandi block of Nabarangpur district, Odisha, on Tuesday morning. Police are probing the incident | P7 judum case Parliament’s laws out of contempt ambit : SC S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court has rejected a 2012 contempt plea filed by sociologist and former Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar and others, who claimed that the enactment of the Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Armed Police Force Act, 2011 to curb Maoist activity was in contempt of the court’s landmark verdict against vigilante group Salwa Judum that year. “Every State Legislature has plenary powers to pass an enactment and so long as the said enactment has not been declared to be ultra vires the Constitution or, in any way, null and void by a Constitutional Court, the said enactment would have the force of law,” a two-judge bench comprising justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma said. Sundar had alleged failure of the Chhattisgarh government to comply with the Supreme Court’s directions in 2011 to stop support to vigilante groups like Salwa Judum and arming tribals in the name of special police officers (SPO) in the fight against Maoists. However, the bench observed that it was the duty of the state government and the Centre to take adequate steps for restoration of peace and rehabilitation of the residents who have been affected by violence from whatever quarter.