People's Democracy

VHP Planning Another Ayodhya In Karnataka

M K Pandhe

THE RSS and its outfits have been recklessly making efforts in Chikmangalur district of Karnataka to whip up communal frenzy, disturbing the remarkable communal harmony prevalent in the region for centuries.

Dada Hayat Meer Qalandar came to India and settled in a mountaineous region near Chikmangalur two and a half centuries ago. He was a Sufi saint and advocated communal harmony between the Hindus and Muslims in the region. He came from Baghdad (Iraq) and brought with him coffee seeds. It is said that it was he who initiated coffee plantation in Karnataka. He was popularly known as Baba Budan.

A dargah (Sufi shrine) was established in the area and came to be known as Guru Dattatreya Baba Budan Swamy Dargah. The name ‘Guru Dattatreya’ was given to him by the Hindus who had become his disciples. His sermons were attended both by Hindus and Muslims.

I was in Chikmangalur to attend a bank union conference. I took the opportunity to visit the shrine. There are several legends about Baba Budan who, according to some, came more than 1000 years ago.

After Baba Budan’s departure, the shrine was looked after by Hazrat Sayyad Jamaullah Mungriti Baghdadi and his brother who continued the work of Baba Budan. Their graves too are there near the shrine. The graves of 14 other Sufi pirs, who were looking after the shrine, are located near the shrine.

I also saw an Arabic script, with Baba Budan preaching in front of the shrine. There is also a mosque opposite the shrine.

I was told by the persons in the shrine that the first attempt to create Hindu-Muslim tension in the region was made in 1906. Another attempt to raise a dispute was made during the early 1970s and in 1975 the Supreme Court gave the verdict that no Hindu ritual should be performed near the shrine.

The BJP and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, however, tried to raise communal frenzy claiming that the shrine was originally a Dattatreya temple. The Hindutva fanatics also said the khadava (Baba Budan’s footwear) placed near the shrine belonged to Dattatreya.

When the Karnataka government wanted to hand over the shrine’s property to the Waqf Board, the trustees of the shrine did not agree since Hindus in the region revered it.

The RSS outfits are purposely attacking this unique example of Hindu-Muslim amity and the rich heritage of Baba Budan, who preached religious tolerance and amity, in a bid to destroy this example itself. Karnataka BJP leader Anant Kumar, whose name has become much known due to a housing scandal when he was a union minister in the NDA government, took the lead in rousing hysteria, and Datta Jayanti was used as an occasion to whip up anti-Muslim frenzy in the area. VHP leader Praveen Togadia also went there to add fuel to the fire and demanded that 14 graves of Muslim pirs should be removed from the site.

I saw several Hindus and Muslims coming with their families and visiting the shrine. No tension was seen there.

The BJP is, however, bringing thousands of people by buses to the shrine and perform Hindu rites there in violation of the court order. The Karnataka government has put barbed wire to protect the graves of the Sufi saints and constructed an enclosure for the visitors on the Datta Jayanti Day.

Togadia himself made an announcement that the VHP would make this shrine another Ayodhya and establish Datta Vidayapeeth in the area. He threatened to remove all Muslim graves and relics, so that it is established as a pure Hindu shrine.

It was reported to me that several BJP leaders are campaigning all over Karnataka and rousing sentiments against the Muslim community. With parliamentary elections around the corner, the BJP is making an attempt to utilise the issue for electoral purposes.

Despite blatant violation of the court orders, the Hindutva lobby is performing Hindu religious rite like havana etc, and the government of Karnataka is not taking any action against those violating the law on the plea of not disturbing public sentiments on the eve of elections. This is causing concern among the Muslim community in the region.

The Karnataka state committee of the CPI(M) is campaigning against the machinations of Hindutva fanatics and stressing the need for preserving communal harmony and rich cultural heritage of Baba Budan dargah in the region. Other secular forces in the state have also condemned the BJP’s move and advocated preservation of the century old tradition of the shrine.