Mangalore on slow boil

It8217;s Mangalore8217;s politics and the strong communal undercurrents in the politics 8212; since the 1992 Babri demolition 8212; that is threatening to sweep the district away from its path to greater prosperity.

Since Babri, Mangalore has become divided on sharply communal lines. The BJP8217;s emerged as a strong force constantly gaining territory from the Congress. The 2004 elections saw the BJP make a virtual sweep of the 11 legislative assembly seats from the district. Mangalore played a key role in the BJP8217;s emergence as the single largest party in the 2004 polls and its current presence in a ruling coalition with the Janata Dal Secular.

The politics in the district is now often played out on the knife-edge of the divide between Hindus and Muslims. Several new flashpoints for communal violence have emerged from the issue of transportation of cows in violation of a state law to eve teasing to inter-religious relationships.

The deep distrust between Hindus and Muslims has been heightened by the perception of the minorities of the local administration8217;s bias against them, since the BJP is the partner of the Janata Dal Secular in the state coalition government and Mangalore district is under the charge of a BJP minister. On the flipside, the mayor of Mangalore city is Congress8217; K Ashraf.

There are complaints that the police force in the district has very little representation from the minority community. Also that extreme right wing Hindu forces are being given a free hand to romp around the Mangalore countryside, stopping illegal cow transportation, inter-religious love affairs and settling disputes vigilante style.

8220;There is a feeling in a section of the youth in Mangalore that they can get away with anything. They have a feeling of security, that has to change,8221; says Sulaiman. 8220;We have been asking the elders from both communities to reign in their youth. This hasn8217;t happened. It8217;s the 15-25 year olds that have been causing the violence. There8217;s too much over reaction on issues like cow transportation,8217;8217; says district superintendent of police B Dayanand.

8220;The issue of cow transport and slaughter has been pending for long. At a peace committee meeting of both communities held 15 days ago there were assurances that some of our concerns will be addressed by Muslims themselves that has not happened,8221; RSS worker Madhav Bhandary told a peace committee meeting held after the violence.

Though the police were initially caught napping when the recent round of violence broke out on Oct 4, the general feeling is that the district administration acted effectively to nip the situation.

8220;The police defused the violence very quickly. If they hadn8217;t imposed the curfew strongly it could not have been controlled easily,8221; Muslim Central Committee leader Hamid Khan said. The BJP district in-charge minister Nagaraja Shetty has given an assurance that those guilty for the violence will be punished 8220;without politics8217;8217;.

The Janata Dal Secular, which threw its secular ideology to the wind to ally with the BJP in January this year, has blamed the Bajrang Dal and SIMI activists for the violence. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy who initially stated that no special inquiry would be necessary apart from the police inquiry into the violence is now reportedly under pressure from his father and party president H D Devegowda to order a state Corps of Detectives inquiry.

The prolonged curfew of the past week has had common people losing livelihood, resulting in a demand for a ban on fundamentalist groups and bandhs in the district. Peace has returned to Mangalore for the time being. People are back to their normal lives. But, simmering below the surface is a powder keg of communal emotions.