An area which attracted much attention during the first phase of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani’s ‘Bharat Uday Yatra’ was Mandakkad, a coastal hamlet in Kanyakumari which had witnessed a bloody communal riot between Christians and Hindus in 1982.The yatra has evoked a mixed response from those who had escaped the riot, with some outrightly rejecting any communal tones to it and others saying it may not be all that innocent. However, the first phase of the yatra, which passed through Marthandam that borders Mandakkad, went off peacefully.Dasan, a local fisherman, felt it is difficult to believe that the yatra would not do any damage to the communal harmony in the village. But Susai Antony, treasurer of St Lusia Church at Mandakkad, said, ‘‘I think it’s just a political gimmick to garner votes. It would hardly make any visible damage to communal harmony.’’As many as six fishermen were killed in police action in the first-ever communal violence in the village. It was followed by a series of clashes resulting in the disappearance of a number of people.It all started with a clash between fish workers from to the two communities over an alleged trivial matter. The riot was followed by the rise of the Hindu Munnani in the district under the leadership of Thanulinga Nadar.According to locals, communal tension in the village rose in the ’80s following the installation of a Ganpati idol by some Hindu activists on the village road and the attempts by the police to remove it. The incident was closely followed by the ‘Hindu Resurgence Congress’ of the Hindu Munnani in Nagercoil in 1982. Minor skirmishes between members of the two communities followed and a nearby school run by a particular community was torched.The riot that followed was reportedly sparked by an incident of eve-teasing during the Mandakkad Devi Temple festival. It is said that a group of fishermen had tried to tease some women devotees during the festival. This led to a violent clash between members of the two communities. Six fishermen were killed on the spot when the police party, which went there to control the situation, had to resort to firing.Though the then Tamil Nadu CM M.G. Ramachandran, appointed an inquiry commission to probe the incident, it could not come to any clear-cut conclusions. The families of the riot victims were later given Rs 10,000 each as compensation.
