People's Democracy

KARNATAKA

Sangh Parivar Outfit Indulges

In Taliban Style Attacks

B Madhava

"This is Talibani culture! This cannot be tolerated", said C T Ravi, Karnataka minister for higher education and also minister in charge of Dakshina Kannada district, while addressing a press conference in Mangalore on July 29, 2012. He was talking about the latest attack unleashed by Sangh Parivar outfit ‘Hindu Jagaran Vedike’ against young boys and girls in Mangalore. You are right minister, but the question is who fathered the Sangha Parivar model of Taliban in Karnataka and nurtured it till you became a minister a few days ago?

The whole country was deeply mortified on the night of July 28 when television channels repeatedly showed the scenes of attack and molestation on young girl students and boys who were celebrating the birthday of one of them in the 'Morning Mist' home-stay at Padil, Mangalore.  According to the television reporter, who had reached the scene of attack at the nick of time, there were about 70 attackers belonging to the Hindu Jagarana Vedike who entered the home-stay and without uttering a single word, started beating the boys and girls mercilessly. They even stripped the upper garments of the girls, slapped them and molested them recklessly.  They stripped the shirt of Vijay, the boy whose birthday was being celebrated, and beat him repeatedly even while he was pleading that it was his birthday function.

The police arrested eight of the culprits on the spot and four others after two days. And as if to cover their failure in promptly arriving at the scene, the police have charged a TV channel reporter and a cameraman under the same sections of IPC as the attackers! Their reasoning being that the media persons did not inform the police promptly. This act of shooting the messenger has drawn widespread condemnation from the public.

The district administration has clamped prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC from the morning of July 29 itself to prevent any protests taking place in Mangalore. The ban was applicable to the area coming under the Mangalore City Police Commissionarate. Defying the ban, the district committee of the CPI(M) held a protest demonstration before the Deputy Commissioner's office on July 30. Those participating in the protest were arrested and later released. The SFI and DYFI activists also held demonstrations and courted  arrest.  Students of many colleges boycotted classes and held massive protest demonstrations within the campuses since the police did not allow them to protest outside in view of the ban.  As per the call given by the CPI(M) Karnataka state committee, protest demonstrations were held in various district headquarters.

The shocking incidents of moral policing are not new in Mangalore.  The first major attack reported was way back on June 4, 2005 when a group of youth belonging to Bajarang Dal attacked a bus near Pumpwell in Mangalore.  A businessman, belonging to Muslim community had organised a tour to Mysore for his staff which consisted both Muslim and Hindu men and women. The moral police stopped the bus, stoned it and assaulted the people travelling in it. By the time the police arrived, the attackers had vanished in the dark. The second such incident was reported on December 27, 2008 when a group of students studying in the Matha Educational Trust PU College were on their way to Mysore from Mangalore on a tour. They were attacked by the Bajarang Dal goons who again went scot free.  The infamous pub attack of January 24, 2009 made headlines throughout the country.  The attackers are still at large. A series of churches were  attacked on September 14-15, 2008.  Nothing has been done by the BJP state government to punish the persons guilty of such crimes.

Mired as it is in groupism, and its ministers going to jail on corruption charges, the BJP government it appears has no time to save the honour and dignity of innocent men and women of Karnataka.