Coastal Karnataka: Where Communal Politics is at Its Naked Worst

In coastal Karnataka, vikas is not an election buzzword and no one pretends it is.

(Photo: The Quint)

Video editors: Vishal Kumar and Mohd Ibrahim

In coastal Karnataka, vikas is not an election buzzword and no one pretends it is. For the nineteen seats in the region, it is communal politics that rules the roost.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s efforts to wrest power in the districts of Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada are being aided by Hindutva groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, who are on a door-to-door campaigning spree, asking people to “ensure that only Hindu candidates win”.

In coastal Karnataka, only Hindus should win. That is why the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal are bringing the Hindus together. We are going from village to village, from one household to another telling people, “Vote for Hindus, we need a government in Karnataka that supports Hindus”.

Sharan Pumpwell, VHP Secretary in Mangaluru

On the other hand, the Congress, although they do not admit to an alliance, seem to have the backing of the Popular Front of India (PFI), a Muslim group that has projected itself as a counter to the Sangh and its offshoots.

The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the PFI, has fielded candidates in only three of the 223 seats going to polls on 12 May. Compare this to 2013, when they had fielded candidates in seven out of eight seats in Dakshina Kannada itself.

Groups like the Bajrang Dal and the Popular Front of India reach the peaks of their political relevance and capital in the election season. However, the residents of coastal Karnataka have to deal with their antics throughout the five years between elections as well.

And both sides have a similar method of displaying their political muscle. It’s called moral policing.

If you compare both of them, the Popular Front of India is a mirror image of the RSS.

Suresh Bhat Bakrabail, Civil rights activist in Mangaluru

Moral Policing: Mangaluru’s Unresolved Menace

(Photo: Meghnad Bose/The Quint)

Nine years ago, goons of the Sri Ram Sene stormed into a pub in Mangaluru, and dragged girls out by their hair, in a horrific incident of moral policing. The place used to be called 'Amnesia' then, but Mangaluru hasn't forgotten the infamous "pub attack".

Nine years later, names have changed. Today, it's called Retox Lounge Bar, but Mangaluru's moral policing menace continues. Unabated.

Moral policing is still a menace in Mangaluru, nine years after the infamous “pub attack”.(Photo: The Quint)

Friendships Frowned Upon

Nineteen-year-old Ashlene Mendes recounts a recent incident of moral policing in Mangaluru.

A Catholic friend of mine was travelling with a Hindu friend. They were in a car going somewhere to eat at night. A group of people on bikes stopped them. They made her roll down her window, and slapped her! They asked, “Why are you out at night? You should not be out”.

Ashlene Mendes, Resident, Mangaluru

Chatting with a bunch of students makes one realise how widespread and rampant moral policing is in Mangaluru. Twenty one-year-old Sharwan Naveedh reveals an unfortunate incident with his friend.

He is a Muslim and his girlfriend is a Hindu. They had gone to City Centre mall to watch a movie. During the movie, the guy was called out by a group of people. One of the men calling him was wearing the uniform of Cinepolis cineplex. He was well-versed in English. My friend thought it’s a small matter.Once he came out, he was taken to an alley next to the mall and was thrashed by six to seven people.

Sharwan Naveedh, Resident, Mangaluru

The Quint: What do you think was the reason they thrashed him?

Sharwan: Because he was with his girlfriend. And she is a Hindu.

Justifying Thuggery

In an interview to The Quint, Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Secretary in Mangaluru Sharan Pumpwell said, “If someone beats up girls who are dancing and drinking in pubs, then he is doing a good job. There is nothing wrong in doing that”.

Pumpwell, who is a former Bajrang Dal leader and is currently campaigning for the BJP in coastal Karnataka, went on to say, “If a young girl goes to a pub, she will dance and drink there, she will do drugs. There is a sex mafia in these pubs too. Can we just sit quiet and watch? Mangaluru is a cultural place, with good sanskriti. That is why the youth want to put an end to such things”.

(Photo: Meghnad Bose/The Quint)

“We are not abiding by his rules”, said a furious Mendes when she was told about the VHP leader’s statement.

Dancing cannot be a crime, and he (Sharan Pumpwell) cannot be the one who says that it is wrong. He did not write the Constitution, and we are not abiding by his rules.

Ashlene Mendes, Resident, Mangaluru

A day after interviewing Pumpwell, we travelled to Bantwal, described by some as “Karnataka’s most brazenly communal constituency”.

There, we met 19-year-old Mohd Shamsher, who despite claiming to not be a member of the PFI, justified the group’s acts of vigilantism.

The Quint: PFI also does it (moral policing), right?

Mohd Shamsher: Yes, PFI also does it (moral policing). If the boy and girl are just friends, they will leave them.

The Quint: But if they are not friends?

Mohd Shamsher: Even if they are not friends, they (PFI members) will not beat up the couple. They will call their parents and tell them what their kids are doing. If the parents say, “Leave them”, then they do that. If the parents don’t say that, then they (PFI members) won’t leave the couple.

The Quint: Is it correct to do what the PFI is doing?

Mohd Shamsher: Yes! They are saving our culture.

However, not everyone agrees.

My simple question is this – Who are you to tell me what I should do and whom I should go out with?

Rahul Jothi (20), Resident, Mangaluru

When the law permits us to do something, who are these people to object in this way?

Arza Safiya (20), Resident, Mangaluru

BJP or Congress...

Suresh Bhat Bakrabail, a 71-year-old civil rights activist in Mangaluru, who keeps a track of the number of communal incidents in coastal Karnataka every year.(Photo: Meghnad Bose/The Quint)

Being in his seventies doesn’t stop Mangaluru-based civil rights activist Suresh Bhat Bakrabail from keeping a diligent record of communal incidents in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada. His records, based on the reports published in reputed newspapers in the region, show that there have been between 150 to 200 incidents of moral policing in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada under Siddaramaiah’s Congress government.

Add other types of communal incidents to that and the statistics are positively disturbing.

Whether it is BJP or Congress in power, the communal incidents do not seem to stop. In the districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi combined, there are around 100 to 120 incidents every year.

Suresh Bhat Bakrabail, Civil rights activist

The BJP, in its election campaign, has repeatedly alleged that the Congress government was not willing to crack down on the PFI's vigilante activities because of political and electoral advantages. An example, they claimed, is that in the constituency of Bantwal, the SDPI has not fielded a candidate.

When asked to respond to these allegations, Luqman Bantwal, the vice-president of the Youth Congress in Dakshina Kannada, told The Quint:

If you look at the crime records of Bantwal constituency, there is an equal number of cases against minority groups and right-wing (Hindutva) elements. So there is no bias against anybody. It’s like <i>rajdharma</i>.&nbsp;

Luqman Bantwal

No sooner than 15 May will we know whether the voter has bought into the BJP’s allegations or the Congress’ defence.

The Real Issues?

Have the Hindutva, anti-Hindutva cards being played by the BJP and the Congress, respectively, deflected all attention from the “real issues” that the region of coastal Karnataka is facing?

I really believe that communal polarisation is shifting focus from the main points that need to be showcased. For example, what does the youth require? Mangalore is known as a hub for education but we have a huge job scarcity.

Nikita Coutinho (21), Resident, Mangaluru

One of the flyovers in the city has been under construction for the last eight years and it’s still not completed. So people are not talking about these kinds of things.

Niel Kote (20), Resident, Mangaluru

So, Mangaluru can very well thank its netas for keeping the real issues out of the election agenda and focusing all their energies on the politics of religion.

Sarcasm.(GIF Courtesy: GIPHY)

So, which way will the voters of coastal Karnataka swing? Answers here on 15 May.

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