People's Democracy
February 04, 2007
WHILE the earlier episodes of communal violence,
the 10 days of curfew and the disruption of
life were fresh in the memory of the people
of Karnataka, the Sangh Parivar instigated yet
another episode of well planned violence in
two assembly constituencies of Bangalore where
the BJP had won. The reason is simple. The BJP,
which won an unprecedented 79 seats in the Karnataka
assembly last time, is afraid of losing many
of its seats in the event of a new election.
That is the main reason that for both partners
of the present coalition government --- the
BJP and the JD(S), with the letter S ironically
standing for "secular" --- are somehow
continuing their unholy alliance with all its
contradictions. The Sangh Parivar wants to use
the BJP's hold on administration to polarise
the polity on communal lines and make the state
one of its secure bases. It has held several
baithaks here and the RSS's chief and other
national leaders are making frequent visits
to the state --- many a time unannounced.
RALLY'S FAILURE & ITS AFTERMATH
That is why the Parivar is inciting a number
of local or village level communal conflicts
in its old bases from where its men were elected
several times in elections. They made in the
past and are still making all out efforts to
create a controversy around a Sufi dargah in
Baba Budangiri and use the issue to polarise
the people on communal lines. When the NDA government
was in power in New Delhi, the BJP's Ananth
Kumar, then a central minister, had openly declared
that they would make Baba Budangiri the Ayodhya
of the south and Karnataka a Gujarat.
Recently, in November 2006, during the rallies
that were held to raise anew the Baba Budangiri
issue, they incited communal violence in Mangalore
and the surrounding talukas. The ten days of
curfew that had to be imposed at that time,
some other factors and also the CPI(M)'s intervention
ignited the common people's dislike
for the communal forces. This was evident from
their rally at Baba Budangiri on December 3,
2006. While the Parivar used to mobilise 30,000
to 50,000 people in the earlier previous years,
the December 3 rally was a big failure, with
only 3,000 people participating in it.
However, the Sangh Parivar's response to its
failure has been to step up its communal propaganda
and drive by organising a series of "Virat
Hindu Samaveshas" (Grand Hindu Congregations)
in the name of M S Golvalkar's
centenary at the takuka and district levels
and within cities. For its public meetings during
this drive, the Parivar not only roped in popular
swamis and mutt chiefs belonging to many castes,
but also misused the images of Bhagat Singh,
Vivekananda, Ambedkar, Karnataka's social reformers
like Basavanna and Kanaka Dasa, venerated by
Lingayats and shepherds, along with Golvalkar's
images. The Parivar also sought to exploit issues
and non-issues like terrorism, the so-called
minority appeasement, cow slaughter and conversions
etc in a bid to incite communal hatred. Tens
of lakhs of rupees were spent to decorate whole
towns or cities with cutouts, banners and flags.
Many of the cutouts displayed the images of
cow slaughter, or of Shivaji thrusting his sword
into the body of a Mughal commandant, or of
gods in militant postures. These Virat Hindu
Samaveshas were preceded by meetings involving
doctors, advocates, bus owners, hotel owners
and workers in such establishments. Several
motorcycle rallies were organised as part of
preparation of each Samavesha. The whole scene
looked intimidating and made the minorities,
particularly the Muslims, anxious.
A recent development is that this situation
is being used by Muslim fundamentalists who
have formed an organisation, called the Karnataka
Forum for Dignity (KFD), and are working in
close association with the fundamentalist National
Democratic Front (NDF) of Kerala. It is also
associated with the PWG group of naxalites in
Karnataka. They are thus only giving excuses
to Sangh Parivar to incite communal hatred by
making crude efforts to attack the Sangh Parivar
rallies and organise Muslims for rallies. The
KFD too is spending several lakhs of rupees
on propaganda materials and other things.
COMMUNAL VIOLENCE IN BANGALORE
On the same day when the CITU held a grand rally
at the conclusion of the all-India CITU conference
in Bangalore on January 21 when a massive turnout
of workers raised militant slogans against communalism,
the RSS organised three Virat Hindu Samaveshas
at three different places in Bangalore city.
While going in a procession to the venue of
the Samavesha being held at Halasur, Sangh Parivar's
activists passed through minority areas and
markets where they burnt buses and auto-rickshaws
as well as looted and burnt shops. More than
40 vehicles (buses and auto-rickshaws) belonging
to drivers from the minority community were
thus consigned to flames. When the police resorted
to lathicharge and firing, a boy of 12 years
of age was killed and
more than 40 persons were wounded. Curfew was
imposed for two days. Though curfew was relaxed
later, section 144 continued for some more time.
More than 400 youth were arrested and kept in
undisclosed places but, surprisingly, most of
the people hurt in the lathicharge and firing
as well as most of those arrested after the
violence belonged to the minority community.
Policemen also barged into the houses of Muslim
citizens at the midnight, and beat up women,
children and old people while arresting the
able-bodied persons.
Perhaps to avoid the stigma that stuck to the
Sangh Parivar in regard to the Mangalore communal
violence a few months ago, the Parivar cunningly
used the protest actions organised on January
19 by the Muslim masses against the hanging
of Saddam as its starting point. On January
19 itself, a communal conflict erupted when
two groups destroyed banners and festoons belonging
to one another. Many vehicles were damaged,
and lathicharge and firing had to be resorted.
Inspite of such incidences of violence, however,
the administration granted permission for holding
the RSS's Hindu Samajotsava and rallies.
CPI(M)'S STANDPOINT
The CPI(M) has been consistently intervening
in the situations of communal violence in the
past. Its cadres and leaders have visited the
affected areas, consoled the people and demanded
actions against the culprits and also against
the conniving police officials.
On the issue of the RSS-BJP depredations regarding
the Baba Budangiri shrine, the CPI(M)'s independent
intervention and its joint actions along with
progressive forces, litterateurs and other intellectuals
had forced the state government to go on defensive.
Even though being a ruling coalition partner,
the BJP could not have its way in introducing
Hindu rituals in the Sufi shrine and converting
this Sufi dargah into a Datta temple.
The DYFI organised at Baba Budangiri a rally
of the youth from all over the state, with the
slogan "Youth March for Communal Harmony."
With regard to the Virat Hindu Samaveshas also,
the CPI(M) has condemned the misuse of images
of Bhagat Singh and other national heroes, and
has taken initiative to mobilise the progressive
forces to condemn this practice.
In regard to the Bangalore violence, a fact
finding mission of the CPI(M), led by its state
secretary G N Nagaraj, visited on January 23
the areas affected and the hospitals where the
injured were undergoing treatment. The delegation
comprised the party's state secretariat members
V J K Nair, Maruthi Manpade, S Y Gurushanth
and Prasanna Kumar, state committee members
K Prakash and K N Umesh, a number of activists
and auto drivers.
On January 24, another fact finding team visited
the areas; it consisted of some eminent writers,
and film and theatre artists, dalit activists,
trade unionists and others. These progressive
intellectuals and leaders from the Left parties
also addressed a joint press conference, while
a delegation of intellectuals and Left parties
later met the state's chief minister and the
home minister.
Now the CPI(M) has made the following demands:
