Protests and demos rock Mangalore

Following the attack on women in a local pub in Mangalore, women's organizations have begun to whip up a series of protests in the city. First wave of the protests came on Wednesday under the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) and another protest by Kripa Alva and friends.

The AIDWA protest has led by Bharathi and few others who demonstrated near the Deputy Commissioner’s office and demanded punishment to the perpetrators of attacks on women. The memorandum presented to the Deputy Commissioner stated that it was not only undemocratic but also barbaric to attack women. The memorandum urged the Deputy Commissioner not to spare the attackers at any cost.

The second protest led by Kripa Alva was held in front of the district incharge minister Krishna Palemar near the Press club of Mangalore, Speaking to the presspersons later Ms. Alva stated that the attacks on women in Mangalore has led a deep hurt and there is a terrific anger among the women in the city, The district minister will have to take necessary action immediately to control the vigilante groups operating in the district the ladies urged.

Earlier Mr. Krishna Palemar who addressed a press conference said it was all a conspiracy hatched by some vested interests to malign the BJP Government in the state. Talking to newspersons here, he said ''some vested interests hatched a conspiracy and fabricated the attack to defame the BJP government, which was working for the development of the state.'' ''The vested interests could not tolerate the popularity of the BJP government, which undertook various developmental schemes, and hatched this conspiracy and was indulging in +smear campaign against BJP,'' Mr Palemar, who is also District Incharge Minister alleged. Anyone seen who had the visuals of the incident recorded by the media, it was a clearcut conspiracy of vested interests. If anybody wanted to attack the Pub why should they call the media before they do so, he alleged. Replying to a question, he said the ''Sri Ram Sene'' outfit was in no way associated with the BJP. The outfit had worked against us (BJP) in the last assembly elections, he alleged.
Mr. M.G. Hegde spokesperson of the Congress in a press conference has condemned the BJP and vigilante groups affiliated to it as a cancer on the society and wanted them to be banned immediately.

He said our women cannot go on pleading with the vigilante groups for every activity they take up. They don't need permission of the goons to go to the restaurant or to tell them what dress to wear. If things go on like this the social fiber of the city will be destroyed and there will be no interaction between different communities.

Mangalore pub attack: Lessons India's civil society must heed

The violent attack on a group of women in a Mangalore pub (Jan 24) by activists of the self-styled Sri Ram Sene who could not countenance such innocent revelry is to be condemned in the most unambiguous terms. Ostensibly carried out to protect the ''morals'' of society and the ''honour'' of the women involved, the invocation of Hindu religion to justify the mob violence that included beating up the women and sexually molesting them is an act that ironically sullied the 'very idea' of India on the eve of the Republic Day celebrations on Jan 26.

The irony is further compounded by the kind of security cordon that had been put in place along Rajpath in New Delhi and other state capitals to prevent any kind of terrorist attack on the Republic Day parade which symbolizes the idea of the Republic and the values enshrined in the Constitution. After every major terrorist attack in India and most recently after the Mumbai attack of Nov 26, 2008, it is reiterated that what is being threatened is the 'idea' of India and the values it embodies. The latter include the commitment to liberal, secular principles and respect for the spirit and letter of the law of the land. Regrettably while the RDay parade itself in Delhi and other state capitals was conducted with no untoward incident - the idea of India was attacked from within - by one fringe of its own citizens.

However what is encouraging is the fact that all the major political parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- led government in Bangalore have distanced themselves from this dastardly act and the perpetrators have been arrested. What remains to be monitored by civil society is the speed and determination with which this act of pre-meditated violence is prosecuted and the degree to which the punishment awarded will serve as a deterrent to those of similar persuasion.

The fact that India will soon move towards general elections imbues the Mangalore attack with the potential to be exploited for sectarian political advantage. It merits recall that the national president of the Sri Ram Sene, Pramod Mutalik, has claimed responsibility for the attack and has even gone to the extent of threatening similar action in the future if such acts - that is women going to pubs - is repeated. Mutalik added: "Sri Ram Sene will not sit silently, watching the attack on Hindu culture. (The) Sene will not apologise for what has happened in Mangalore."
Thus the gauntlet has been thrown to the Indian state and civil society - in Karnataka in the first instance. Will there be an approach of appeasement and obfuscation, as has happened in the past in Karnataka and elsewhere when faced with similar militant majoritarianism seeking shelter under distorted Hindu ideology? Karnataka and Orissa have been under a cloud after the attacks on Christians in 2008 and it is a matter of shame that the law has been applied diffidently and selectively in defending the values associated with a secular India.

This is not an isolated incident and ever since the destruction of the Babri Majid in December 1992 and the events that followed beginning with the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 1993, the discourse in Indian politics and its correlation with the polity has been one of soft appeasement of one cross-section of the majority sentiment that is deliberately stoked. The objective is to obtain short-term political advantage and this malaise goes back to the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi years when Sikh and Muslim sentiment was deliberately manipulated.

The original sin, as it were, precedes partition of August 1947 and the emergence of independent India and Pakistan and the synergy between religion and politics. Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence and communal harmony, had once famously noted that those who blindly insist that politics and religion be kept totally apart understood neither religion nor politics. The essence of the Gandhian prescription that the founding fathers - paradoxically in both India and Pakistan accepted - was that one could be a staunch and steadfast Hindu/Muslim/Christian or of any other religious denomination without distorting the practice of normative politics predicated on true and inclusive nationalism.

While the Nehruvian era in Indian politics was reasonably successful in such practice, ironically Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, was equally committed to such an ideal in his first major speech to his country. However, soon after his exit from the political arena, the Pakistani elite progressively slipped into a deliberately distorted discourse about the interpretation of the role of religion - in its case Islam. Sectarianism and intolerance leading to mindless militancy nurtured by the state ( that has now morphed into ruthless jehadi terrorism) was encouraged and the net result is what we now witness along the western border of Pakistan.
Large tracts of that country including the picturesque Swat valley that once had the most tolerant and cosmopolitan socio-cultural norms has now been taken over by the Taliban. An inflexible, distorted medieval interpretation of Islam is now the norm and one of the practices that is dictated is that girls schools are to be destroyed and women forbidden from any kind of emancipation.

Pakistani civil society is currently trying - valiantly but in vain - to resist such intimidation. The malaise in Pakistan has set in deep and it is unlikely that this societal malignancy will be redressed any time soon. Part of the reason is that the state and civil society did not take heed of the impending danger at the appropriate time. Mangalore with its glaring gender-cum- religious overtones is a similar warning and the need to firmly quarantine this misplaced fervour cannot be brushed aside as a minor transgression.

Attack on women: Raise your voice NOW!

In Mangalore last weekend, a dozen or more goons stormed into a pub and attacked young women for being 'improperly dressed' and 'behaving immodestly.' The incident made headlines; much outrage was expressed -- and we seem to have moved on to other preoccupations, other headlines. What happened was unconscionable: No individual or group has the right to set itself up as arbiter of public behaviour.

Even less does it have the right to take the law into its own hands, to enforce its unilateral diktat through acts of deliberate violence. The fault, though, is not theirs but ours: Too often, for far too long, we have confined our disgust, our anger at such actions to the confines of our living rooms. 'Incidents' happen, we 'express our outrage' within the safe confines of our home. Then, with a collective shrug of apathy, we move on -- and by moving on, we grant such groups the tacit permission to continue on their anarchist path. The danger in collective apathy is this: We could be next.

Tomorrow, this group could decide that you do not have the right to play the kind of music they disapprove of; to educate your children in schools not of their liking; to allow your wife, your daughter, to work at jobs of their choosing. These groups get away with their acts because they purport to speak for the 'majority' -- and they do this because we, the majority, are silent spectators. That needs to change. Now.

We need to show that we, the silent majority in this country, do not support such acts -- that we, in fact, strongly oppose such groups; that we refuse to cede to such self-appointed moral guardians the right to speak for us, to dictate our actions, to define 'acceptable behaviour.' It is time for the 'silent majority' to find its voice, to speak out, to put an end to criminal behaviour before we get swamped in this rising tide of 'moral' posturing. Speak out, through the form below.
Express your views, give voice to your outrage, demand that elected governments enforce the laws of the land and crack down, hard, on those who would take that law into their own hands. We will forward your thoughts to Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, and follow up with his office to make sure your thoughts are heard, and action is taken.

'Mangalore attack is also a form of terrorism'

Condemning the attack on women in a pub in Karnataka's Mangalore last week as also a manifestation of terrorism, the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (Sahmat) Tuesday said the same group which had attacked an exhibition of M.F. Husain's art works here last year was behind the latest attack.
"We remind the public that this is the same group which carried out an attack on an exhibition mounted by Sahmat in August last year, celebrating M.F. Husain’s contributions to Indian art," said Ashok Kumari of the organisation.
"The Mangalore incident shows that terrorism has several manifestations and multiple protagonists. We appeal to the public to break out of the template on terrorism that has been moulded by the Hindutva Parivar. People should recognise that all offences against civilised norms of conduct and the rule of law, contribute to the triumph of terrorism," he added.

A group of 40 activists barged into the pub Amnesia - The Lounge in Mangalore Saturday and bashed up a group of young women and men, claiming the women were violating traditional Indian values. The girls were punched and their hair pulled by the self-styled moral brigade.
The incident has drawn nationwide protests, especially enraging the younger generation.
NCW to probe assault on girls in Mangalore
Terming it as a "very unfortunate" incident, the National Commission of Women (NCW) Tuesday formed a committee to probe the assault on some young women by members of a self styled moral brigade in a pub in Mangalore last week.
"The commission is aghast at the kind of behaviour of the so called moral police with the young women in Mangalore. It was a very unfortunate incident, both illegal and not permissible. We have taken suo motu cognizance of the same and formed a committee," Girija Vyas, chairperson of NCW told IANS.
"The committee will go to Mangalore either tomorrow (Wednesday) or the day after and meet the victims, who are still in a shock. They will then submit a report on the same," Vyas added.
The two member committee constitutes a lawyer and a social activist.
On Saturday, a group of 40 activists of the Sri Rama Sena barged into the pub Amnesia - The Lounge in Mangalore. They bashed up a group of young women and men, claiming the women were "violating traditional Indian values". The girls were punched and their hair pulled by the self-styled moral brigade.

The incident has invited sharp reactions from all quarters. The police have so far arrested 27 of the 40 member group, including Sena state vice-president Prasad Attavara. Congress wants ban
The Congress in Karnataka today asked the BJP Government to ban pro-Hindu outfit, Sri Rama Sena, which allegedly created terror among people and was out to 'Talibanise' the State and sought immediate dismissal of State Home Minister V S Acharya.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function, KPCC president R V Deshpande said the State Government had miserably failed to maintain law and order as its militant 'arms' like Sri Rama Sena and Bajrang Dal were unleashing terror among the people.
"The BJP is heady with power while people belonging to minority communities and women were feeling insecure. ''Home Minister V S Acharya has proved to be a failure. We demand his immediate dismissal," he said.

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Mallikarjuna Kharge also demanded a ban on rightist organisations like Sri Rama Sena, Bajrang Dal and the RSS. ''These organisations are anti-national forces and they deserve to be banished,'' he said.

Mr Kharge accused the BJP Government of supporting the 'extremist' organisations saying it had withdrawn several cases filed against the members of Bajrang Dal and Sri Rama Sena involving attacks on several places of worship in the State last year.
In Mangalore, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council V S Ugrappa also demanded the ouster of Dr Acharya. ''If at all the Home Minister had some human values, he should have resigned long ago.
''The attack on young women and others in Mangalore was violation of fundamental rights and the Sangh Parivar was responsible for this,'' he alleged.
BJP condemns attack on women

The Bharatiya Janata Party today condemned the attack on women in a pub in Karnataka by the members of Sri Rama Sena, saying such violence should have no place in the country. ''Top BJP leadership had strongly condemned the attacks that took place in coastal town of Mangalore on Sunday last and the state had ordered tough action against the attackers,'' BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad told reporters here. Around 27 attackers had been arrested so far, he said, adding that no guilty would be spared. Mr Prasad also distanced the party from the Sri Rama Sena leader, Pramod Mutalik, who was earlier associated with the Bajrang Dal, a Sangh Pariwar organisation, and said this leader had resigned from the Bajrang Dal three years ago and there has been absolutely no links with him.

When asked about the attacks in Mumbai, the BJP spokesman said the BJP had condemned the violence even then when it was committed by the followers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, led by Mr Raj Thackeray. ''We have been consistant in our stand,'' he remarked. Mr Prasad, however, declined to comment on the claims of cine star and former Union Minister Shatrughan Sinha.

Mangalore: Attack on Pub now a National Concern!

The total arrested in the pub attack has gone up to 25 on Monday evening. In addition to the 17 arrested on Sunday, and remanded to judicial custody till Tuesday, the police have arrested another 5 persons on Monday evening. According to the police arrest list, those arrested on Monday evening includes Nikhil, Puneet, Ramesh Ashwin, Sachin, Vaikunta Raju and Praveen. A group of "Sri Ram Sena" activists allegedly barged into a pub in the heart of Mangalore city on Saturday and started thrashing weekend revelers, including girls. Following the attacks on ladies in the pub the police system in the city has woken up to a rude awakening. In the events that followed aftermath the arrests has been received with shock by the people of Mangalore.

Many people have telephoned to the various web media offices to know the first hand report. The arrest of the king pins of the Sri Rama Sene, including Dinakar Shetty and Prasad Attavar has been kept on the back burner by the police while it has got busy with eliciting information from those who had taken part in the attack on women at the Amnesia pub in hotel Woodside at Balmatta. This new hotel complex has got to deal with another problem of protecting its name in the business. Speaking to the Mangalorean.com, Sudhir, District convener of the Sri Rama Sene stated that – "we are sure what we are doing such things are the only way out when the youngsters particularly girls and ladies start consuming alcohol in public places, they were not only wearing dresses that are provocative but also were dancing and drinking alcoholic drinks in that pub."

This cannot be tolerated by the right thinking persons as it is happening in the public glare and many youngsters could later get into habit of drinking without prompting and neglect their studies and social commitment. In the meanwhile the BJP has started the blame game. BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad also said that the hoodlums involved in the attack on some youngsters on Saturday at a pub were "neither from the BJP nor from the Sangh Parivar. "They are from an autonomous organisation active in the area. We condemn this hooliganism.""I have a little problem with those who seek to make political capital out of it.

There are so many cases of serious violence and riots in Delhi where women were raped. Has the National Commission for Women gone to the victims of police atrocities on women in Delhi?" Prasad asked.BJP President Rajnath Singh, however, has condemned the incident and said that he would discuss the issue with Karnataka's chief minister. It has played up the conspiracy theory purportedly launched by the Congress party to distract the attention of the people away from the BJP in the backdrop of the coming Lok Sabha elections.

He said many congress leaders who are in the helm of affairs in their party have set their eyes on the Lok Sabha seat in Mangalore. In a press release on Monday, Mr. Bhandari has disowned the Sri Rama Sene and said that Sri Rama Sene was no way connected with any of the Sangh Parivar organizations and their leaders had very different ideology and presently Sri Rama Sene could be working for any political party he added.

He said the Bajrang Dal had split when its leader Pramod Muthalik had distanced himself from Bajrang Dal and had joined Shiv Sena, he wanted to set up the Shiv Sena Karnataka unit but that could not be done as the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike had opposed to the existence of Shiv Sena within Karnatka. Pramod Muthalik had floated Sri Rama Sene in 2006, which operates more or less like the Bajrang Dal Of lately the Bajrang Dal and Sri Rama Sene have combined their forces and they lend their "services" to each other or "Share Human Resources" the attack on the Pub was carried out by members or both vigilante groups.

Defending his group's action, Pramod Muthalik, founder of Sri Ram Sena, said, "We have to protect Indian culture and protect women from immoral activities." District in-Charge Minister, Krishna Palemar, said in Mangalore that bars and pubs cannot remain open beyond 11 PM and the rule would be implemented strictly. "Obscene dances will not be allowed in our district," Palemar said.

Notices to Channels and Web media:
In the meanwhile the police have issued notices to a number of media organizations including web media, videographers, photographers and news channels. Superintendent of Police N. Sathish Kumar has sent notices to different photographers, videographers and web channels to explain as to what prevented them to report to the police when they knew about the attack on the pub well in advance. Mr. Kumar said in the press release that "we have taken this step following a section of the media reporting from the spot and the horrific incidents showing the attacks on girls minutes after the incidents, which goes to show that the photographers, videographers and reporters were there at the time of attack. Any responsible citizen would have forewarned the police of the attack which would have helped the police in averting such a barbaric incident".

Yeddyurappa answerable for Mangalore attack, says Renuka Chowdhary
New Delhi, Jan 26 (IANS) Union Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhary Monday said that Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa is answerable for the attack on women at a pub in Mangalore by members of a self-styled pro-Hindutva group.
Demanding an explanation from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government, Chowdhary directed the National Commission for Women (NCW) to investigate the incident.
Activists of a group, calling itself Shri Ram Sena, barged into a pub Saturday afternoon and bashed up and molested a few young women for "violating traditional Indian norms".
"The Karnataka chief minister is answerable for the attack. I will go to Mangalore, if required," Chowdhary told a TV channel.

At least two girls were punched and pulled by their hair by the activists Saturday at the pub Amnesia - The Lounge in Mangalore city.
Critising the incident, Chowdhary said it was an attempt by the radical Hindu group to "Talibanise India" and it was unacceptable.
The attack on the girls has been widely condemned by activists, politicians and people from different walks of life.

Describing it as a shocking incident, NCW Chairman Girija Vyas said members of the self-styled moral brigade alleged obscenity by the girls, but were themselves found "misbehaving and molesting" the girls.
"All of them should be punished," she said.Chief Minister Yeddurappa, however, called the incident as "very unfortunate". He asserted that police were being given a free hand to probe incident.

"Nobody should take law into their hands... government will take strict action against the culprits," said the Chief Minister after the Republic Day functions.

Attacks on Women - Barbarism dawns in Mangalore

Saturday's attack on four women in a pub here signals the dawn of Barbarism in this city of "resourceful people" though the local police have arrested ten youths involved in the attack, there is not another voice that has risen to condemn it, the various associations, political parties and even the PUCL have not raised an alarm till Monday morning.

The attack also is the first of its kind and perhaps the Gujarat model of keeping law and order will herald from Mangalore, It is here that the leaders of various groups like Jagadish Karanth, Pramod Muthalik, Vinay Shetty, Mahendra Kumar have vowed to make Karnataka another Gujarat, however it is not clear to the right thinking people if it was the Gujarat development model or the destruction model, But it looks like Mangalore’s fundamentalist groups have taken the responsibility of moral policing of the city and it is likely that this model is going to be replicated all over the state and Bajrang Dal and Sri Rama Sene are bracing up for joint action against "misled youngsters", a close confidante of the top BJP leader told Mangalorean.com that similar "social correction" measures will be carried out in other cities particularly in Bangalore in coming days.

Sounds alarming, but these groups are determined to do it as their political masters in the BJP are firmly backing them up with all the resources at its disposal. What is the "social correction?" these groups are talking about? Sudhir, district convener of Sri Rama Sene says "there is lot of upheaval in the society, alcoholism, pub culture, meaningless partying, obscene dancing which includes soft pornographic positions and open caressing and kissing has become common among the youth. Such open show of lust is not our culture".

For the first time since the Bajrang Dal and Sri Rama sene have parted their ways, came together on Saturday to carry out a joint operation. "There is equanimity among us when it comes to saving our culture” says Harish Hegde of Bajrang Dal. "There could be some organizational differences among Bajrang Dal and Sri Rama Sene but that will not hinder our way of functioning and what’s more? Together we are stronger and stand better chances in foiling the sinister designs that the new youngsters are adopting in their social lives."

But where are all the whistle blowers? The Mangaloreans are perplexed, the left parties and Congress who used to be so vocal about such things have clammed up, the DYFI has not raised a little finger about it, even the great fighter of the city People’s Union for Civil Liberty (PUCL) led by Mr. P.B. D'Sa has not reacted all the social activist groups have shown a dignified silence in the city.

The city also has a unit of All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) having fire brand leaders like Brinda Karat is yet to rise to the occasion. There are some voices raised in Mumbai and Delhi like Madhu Kishwar which have appeared in the section of the print media but when it comes to the local situation Mangaloreans are left to fend for themselves in this frenzy of communal and hate politics.

Bajrang Dal-Sri Rama Sene attacks revellers

Mangalore, January 24: The Bajrang Dal and Sri Rama Sene in the first ever joint operation today raided a pub in Balmatta and beat up a group of youngsters who were allegeldy involved in some serious partying.

At the time of the attack there were 8 youths belonging to different colleges in the city and four of them were girls. The raiding group found them in a compromising situation and some of them were scarcely clad and were doing nothing short of "nanga Naach" accused Sri Rama Sene district convenor Sudhir. "We did not have any other option but to chase them out of the pub as they appear to have come from good families. When they did not budge they had to beat them out of the pub" he added.

The Police squad headed by the Bunder police sub inspector Umesh Shet visited the place and has recorded the events