THE inhuman attack on the Morning Mist home-stay at Mangalore on July 29, 2012 (see People’s Democracy, August 05, 2012 for details) is not just an instance of moral policing as many have claimed it to be. There is behind it a concerted political calculation done by the BJP’s mentors in the RSS. The attack on the home-stay’s occupants was, far from being an isolated incident, one in the series of incidents which have been and are taking place in Dakshina Kannada (DK) district where the BJP has a big stake in terms of assembly seats.
What is the political chemistry behind all this? In Dakhsina Kannada district and nearby areas, the RSS has a well-knit organisation and the BJP holds four out of eight assembly seats in the district. In the adjacent Udupi district, similarly, the BJP has four MLAs out of a total of five. Yet, the BJP lost its sitting Udupi-Chikmagalur parliamentary seat in the recently held byelection.
Apart from the above, the corruption scandals, the sex scandals and above all the callous neglect of the grievances of common people, particularly during droughts and floods, have created a lot of disillusionment among the people. In the meantime, one of the sitting MLAs in Udupi district has resigned from the BJP, along with another former MLA. The BJP and other Sangh Parivar outfits are naturally perplexed in such a situation, particularly because state assembly elections are due within eight or nine months, and they are out to divide the people on communal lines, in order to withstand the onslaught of their dwindling popularity.
It was in this situation that they planned and perpetrated the attack on the said home-stay in Mangalore. Some other similar incidents are narrated below.
1) On April 26, 2012, a Hindu girl, working in a furniture shop owned by a Muslim, was travelling in a car --- to be dropped home by her employer. On the way, however, activists of the Hindu Jagaran Vedike stoned the car and followed it on their motorcycles. The shop owner, who was driving the car, then lost control due to fear and the car fell into a ditch. When the girl and her employer were taken to the nearby police station, the girl lost courage due to the threat of the local goons and gave the statement that the shop owner was taking her out forcibly. The shop owner was then taken into custody whereas the girl was released after having deposed against her Muslim employer.
Next day, when the car was taken for repair, it was found that the car had been put afire in the night and the valuables kept in it were taken away.
2) On July 16 this year, a Muslim girl was travelling in a car, with a boy. They were friends for some time. But the ‘moral police’ of the Sangh Parivar stopped them en route and demanded that the boy should marry the girl. Ultimately, they agreed to settle the matter for Rs 3.5 lakh which the boy had then to pay to the ‘moral police’ for not marrying the Muslim girl. A good booty indeed for the saviours of Hindutva!
3) On July 22, one Ershad of Ajjavara, near Mangalore, called his girl friend, belonging to Hindu community, to his house as he wanted to marry the girl. But the local Sangh Parivar activists attacked him and the girl was “set free.” The goons claimed that they had saved Hindutva by forcing the Hindu girl to refrain from marrying a Muslim boy.
4) On July 25, at about 1.30 p m, a Muslim youth was interviewing a Hindu girl for the post of receptionist in his lodge. But the cadre of the Hindu Jagaran Vedike suddenly appeared on the scene and attacked the Muslim youth, stating that he was using his girl employees for immoral activities. Both of them were taken to the Bunder police station in Mangalore city and a case was registered against them.
HELPING THE HINDUTVA GOONS
These are only a sample of what is taking place daily in one or another way in various parts of Karnataka. Now the situation in Mangalore and nearby areas is such that a Muslim boy hesitates to sit beside a Hindu girl in a bus, or vice versa, even if the seat is vacant.
In their bid to implement their not-so-hidden agenda, the Sangh Parivar outfits have now turned into a sheltering umbrella for most of the goons belonging to the Hindu community. In fact, the Hindu Jagaran Vedike (Forum for Hindu Awareness) is today nothing but a congregation of goons. On July 19, 2012, HJV activists killed an innocent boy named Shivaraj and threw the body on the railway track near Thokkoor. Then this Hindutva outfit tried to give a communal colour to the episode by stating that Shivaraj was killed by an underworld activist belonging to the Muslim community. However, the fact came to light after the police arrested Prakash and Dinesh belonging to the Hindu Jagaran Vedike; otherwise communal clashes might have taken place on this issue. For the Sangh Parivar does want a flare-up for its own political ends.
It is also astonishing to note that the photos of slained goons like Polali Ananthu, Candle Santhu and Bajilakere Manju were displayed in the BJP Yuva Morcha’s Jagriti Mela that was inaugurated by Sadananda Gowda, the then chief minister of Karnataka. They were all notorious anti-social elements who helped the Sangh Parivar outfits in one or another way. More surprisingly, their photos were displayed in the same row where one saw the pictures of Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and Bhagat Singh!
MINORITIES BARRED FROM OPENING SHOPS
Now we have here a surprising but true story, printed in Karavali Ale, a daily newspaper published from Mangalore. A car festival takes place in Mahalingeshwar Temple at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district every year. Before the actual holding of the festival, a tender is floated every year, calling for proposals to put up shops in the festival area. Thus, this year also, a tender was floated and it was publicised through an advertisement in newspapers and several vendors applied for allotment of space. However, at the time of the bidding itself, it was announced that Muslims and Christians need not submit a bid.
Thus the dastardly attack on the Morning Mist home-stay is not an isolated case. As one of the journalists, Naveen Soorinje who was present at the site and uplinked some of the visuals to his TV channels in Bangalore, such incidents take place in Mangalore and DK district every now and then. If this particular attack became a big news, it was because it was shown on TV channels.
All this reminds one of the call issued by a minister in Ms Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet in West Bengal --- that Trinamul supporters must not talk to CPI(M) people or have any other kind of relationship with the latter. Do we have anything different here in Karnataka under the BJP?
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B Madhav/Balkrishna Shetty People's Democray 19 August 2012
What is the political chemistry behind all this? In Dakhsina Kannada district and nearby areas, the RSS has a well-knit organisation and the BJP holds four out of eight assembly seats in the district. In the adjacent Udupi district, similarly, the BJP has four MLAs out of a total of five. Yet, the BJP lost its sitting Udupi-Chikmagalur parliamentary seat in the recently held byelection.
Apart from the above, the corruption scandals, the sex scandals and above all the callous neglect of the grievances of common people, particularly during droughts and floods, have created a lot of disillusionment among the people. In the meantime, one of the sitting MLAs in Udupi district has resigned from the BJP, along with another former MLA. The BJP and other Sangh Parivar outfits are naturally perplexed in such a situation, particularly because state assembly elections are due within eight or nine months, and they are out to divide the people on communal lines, in order to withstand the onslaught of their dwindling popularity.
It was in this situation that they planned and perpetrated the attack on the said home-stay in Mangalore. Some other similar incidents are narrated below.
1) On April 26, 2012, a Hindu girl, working in a furniture shop owned by a Muslim, was travelling in a car --- to be dropped home by her employer. On the way, however, activists of the Hindu Jagaran Vedike stoned the car and followed it on their motorcycles. The shop owner, who was driving the car, then lost control due to fear and the car fell into a ditch. When the girl and her employer were taken to the nearby police station, the girl lost courage due to the threat of the local goons and gave the statement that the shop owner was taking her out forcibly. The shop owner was then taken into custody whereas the girl was released after having deposed against her Muslim employer.
Next day, when the car was taken for repair, it was found that the car had been put afire in the night and the valuables kept in it were taken away.
2) On July 16 this year, a Muslim girl was travelling in a car, with a boy. They were friends for some time. But the ‘moral police’ of the Sangh Parivar stopped them en route and demanded that the boy should marry the girl. Ultimately, they agreed to settle the matter for Rs 3.5 lakh which the boy had then to pay to the ‘moral police’ for not marrying the Muslim girl. A good booty indeed for the saviours of Hindutva!
3) On July 22, one Ershad of Ajjavara, near Mangalore, called his girl friend, belonging to Hindu community, to his house as he wanted to marry the girl. But the local Sangh Parivar activists attacked him and the girl was “set free.” The goons claimed that they had saved Hindutva by forcing the Hindu girl to refrain from marrying a Muslim boy.
4) On July 25, at about 1.30 p m, a Muslim youth was interviewing a Hindu girl for the post of receptionist in his lodge. But the cadre of the Hindu Jagaran Vedike suddenly appeared on the scene and attacked the Muslim youth, stating that he was using his girl employees for immoral activities. Both of them were taken to the Bunder police station in Mangalore city and a case was registered against them.
HELPING THE HINDUTVA GOONS
These are only a sample of what is taking place daily in one or another way in various parts of Karnataka. Now the situation in Mangalore and nearby areas is such that a Muslim boy hesitates to sit beside a Hindu girl in a bus, or vice versa, even if the seat is vacant.
In their bid to implement their not-so-hidden agenda, the Sangh Parivar outfits have now turned into a sheltering umbrella for most of the goons belonging to the Hindu community. In fact, the Hindu Jagaran Vedike (Forum for Hindu Awareness) is today nothing but a congregation of goons. On July 19, 2012, HJV activists killed an innocent boy named Shivaraj and threw the body on the railway track near Thokkoor. Then this Hindutva outfit tried to give a communal colour to the episode by stating that Shivaraj was killed by an underworld activist belonging to the Muslim community. However, the fact came to light after the police arrested Prakash and Dinesh belonging to the Hindu Jagaran Vedike; otherwise communal clashes might have taken place on this issue. For the Sangh Parivar does want a flare-up for its own political ends.
It is also astonishing to note that the photos of slained goons like Polali Ananthu, Candle Santhu and Bajilakere Manju were displayed in the BJP Yuva Morcha’s Jagriti Mela that was inaugurated by Sadananda Gowda, the then chief minister of Karnataka. They were all notorious anti-social elements who helped the Sangh Parivar outfits in one or another way. More surprisingly, their photos were displayed in the same row where one saw the pictures of Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and Bhagat Singh!
MINORITIES BARRED FROM OPENING SHOPS
Now we have here a surprising but true story, printed in Karavali Ale, a daily newspaper published from Mangalore. A car festival takes place in Mahalingeshwar Temple at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district every year. Before the actual holding of the festival, a tender is floated every year, calling for proposals to put up shops in the festival area. Thus, this year also, a tender was floated and it was publicised through an advertisement in newspapers and several vendors applied for allotment of space. However, at the time of the bidding itself, it was announced that Muslims and Christians need not submit a bid.
Thus the dastardly attack on the Morning Mist home-stay is not an isolated case. As one of the journalists, Naveen Soorinje who was present at the site and uplinked some of the visuals to his TV channels in Bangalore, such incidents take place in Mangalore and DK district every now and then. If this particular attack became a big news, it was because it was shown on TV channels.
All this reminds one of the call issued by a minister in Ms Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet in West Bengal --- that Trinamul supporters must not talk to CPI(M) people or have any other kind of relationship with the latter. Do we have anything different here in Karnataka under the BJP?
*
B Madhav/Balkrishna Shetty People's Democray 19 August 2012
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2 comments:
THE inhuman attack on the Morning Mist home-stay at Mangalore on July 29, 2012 (see People’s Democracy, August 05, 2012 for details) is not just an instance of moral policing as many have claimed it to be. There is behind it a concerted political calculation done by the BJP’s mentors in the RSS. The attack on the home-stay’s occupants was, far from being an isolated incident, one in the series of incidents which have been and are taking place in Dakshina Kannada (DK) district where the BJP has a big stake in terms of assembly seats.
What is the "Political chemistry" in recent incidence of Moral Policing in our State Kerala? that also should be taken in to account. It is just opposite of what happen in DK
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