This type of communal violence by Hindus against Muslims
is not uncommon in India. Cow is a sacred thing for the Hindus which have been
made more sacred by Gandhi and now by Hindutwa. Now that the Hindus have the
upper hand after 1000 years in India, Hindutwa is ready to strike and take
the law into their own hands where they cannot do it through the govt. Except
for the cities, cow slaughter is a unofficial social crime in India. Where
people find that the govt does not do it their way, people form such orgs
like Hindu Yuva Sena, and take law into their hands and do it on behalf of the
government. People can be incited at the slighted provocation or rumor.
This is called Jungle Rule.
The incident shows that at present Jungle Rule is
prevalent in most parts of India specially in case of such communal
violence. I am however not clear about the meaning of the Head line
of the report: "Shame". Shame for what? What the article try to mean by 'Their
Shame' and 'Our Shame'. Who are 'We' and 'They'? Shame at not having a Rule of
Law in such cases of communal violence in India or Shame at Hindus Yuva Sena
doing the thing? Untill and unless the Hindus give
a free certificate that cow slaughter is OK in India, I think this type of
violence will continue. And I don't think Hindus will give a blanket certificate
specially in rural areas. In cities, it is a different
matter.
Assam may not have this type of communal Jungle Rule at
present although we are not so sure. But we have other type of Jungle Rule for
sure. . The incident shows what may be outcome of this type os Yuva Sena and
taking laws into their own hands. With formation of our new Lachit Sena we
are also going into more of this type of Jungle Rule in more
areas. That is why I objected vehemently against formation of this type of
Lachit Sena by AASU although I did not see much support from the
Netters.
My morale for such news is that Indians should be ASHAMED
of such Jungle Rules whether these are for communal violence or for any other
type of Dadagiri or terrorism. All should be dealt with proper force. This type
of IJ is good and should be encouraged to keep the communities feet on the
fire, and this type of SENAs should be outlawed so that we can insist on
Rule of Law through the democratic process. For democracy s to function, all men
should be treated equal as a first condition.
Rajen Barua
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2005 8:10 AM
Subject: [Assam] I/J from Tehelka
Barbaric India
THEIR SHAME, OUR SHAME
Rightwing activists strip two people for buying
cattle
By Chinmayee Manjunath
Udupi,
Karnataka
For What? Hajabba (left)
and Hassanabba at the hands of the mob ( In the Tehelka Website, two people on
the ground, naked- cm)
As more people gathered, the father and son were
stripped in front of the villagers, who remained spectators. The tormentors
then called a photographer to record the show
When 70-year-old Hajabba
bought a calf on March 13, little did he know he would have to pay a big cost
for it. That he would be beaten up and paraded naked. That his 29-year-old
son, Hassanabba, would suffer the same fate. Or that his 68-year-old friend
Kanthapujari and his son Satish would be jailed for a crime they had nothing
to do with. The four, belonging to Moodubettu village in Udupi district, are
the latest victims of the communal tension that is eating into this
picturesque region of Karnataka.
On the morning of March 13,
Hajabba visited Kanthapujari at his home; the two regularly dealt in
livestock. On his way back, he met another villager, Bhogushetty, who
negotiated the sale of a calf. Paying him an advance of Rs 50, Hajabba agreed
to take the calf in the evening. At 7pm, when Hajabba was on his way in his
Maruti van to collect the calf, Bhogushetty stopped him near Kanthapujari's
home and handed over the cattle. Moments later, a crowd of around 10 people
surrounded the vehicle and dragged Hajabba out. "They just started beating
me," recalls Hajabba, sitting on a bed at the hospital where he spent two
weeks after the attack. The assaulters were members of the Hindu Yuva Sena
(hys), a rightwing organisation with presence in the region. Meanwhile,
Hassanabba, worried why his father had not returned, set out looking for him.
"When I reached the spot, there were about 30 men and they began to thrash me
as well," he says, flanked by his father at the hospital.
They were
then bundled into autos and driven to the helipad at Adi Udupi, about 2 km
away. As more people gathered, the father and son were stripped and paraded in
front of the villagers, who remained mute spectators. "Nobody came to help us.
Everyone just stood and watched," recounts a traumatised
Hajabba.
The hys then called in a photographer. "They made us
pose, saying nobody should ever buy calves after this," says Hassanabba, who
lost consciousness soon after. By then, police reached the helipad from Malpe,
a neighbouring town. They retrieved Hajabba's clothes and took him to the
police station. Hassanabba, however, was missing. "I kept telling them to look
for him but they ignored me," says Hajabba. He was questioned till midnight.
But there was still no sign of Hassanabba. "I don't know where I was all night
but when I got up at six in the morning, I was lying near the helipad,
dressed," says the father, recalling the events of that harrowing
night.
The next morning, when Hajabba registered a complaint,
Kanthapujari and Satish were taken to the police station. "They kept asking us
where we were the last night and we told them we were at home," says
Kanthapujari. A heart patient, he was admitted to a government hospital in
Udupi on March 16 under police surveillance and was discharged only last
week.
"Unfortunately, we got the news about the attack late and
by the time my men reached the spot of attack, the son was missing. We suspect
that Kanthapujari was the middleman and Satish has close links with the
Bajrang Dal," says S. Murugan, the Udupi superintendent of
police.
By late evening on March 14, the two were charged with
being abettors of the crime and jailed. Suresh, Kanthapujari's second son,
says his father may have been implicated because he is known to do business
with Hajabba. But Satish, he claims, has nothing to do with the hys.
Bhogushetty's name has not been mentioned in the complaints filed with the
police. Satish, who was in hiding for some days, was arrested and released
last week along with his father.
The prime accused,
Yeshpal Suvarna and Prakash Bhandari, both leaders of the hys, have been
missing since March 14. Several members of the hys have also gone underground
and attempts to contact Vasudev Bhat, a prominent leader of the outfit in the
region, were fruitless.
Murugan admits tension has been on the rise and
it is not the first time trade of cattle has sparked off violence. Other
incidents occurred in Mangalore, Karkala and Manipal, a region that has had a
dominant presence of Muslims and Christians.
Weeks before the Adi
Udupi incident, Vanitha, a factory worker in her early 20s, went missing under
mysterious circumstances in Hejamadi village. She had asked her neighbour,
Ismail, to help her find a better job. Activists of the hys attacked both for
speaking to each other. When they filed a complaint, Vanitha was threatened by
the hys, and was asked to withdraw her complaint. When she refused, Vanitha
was assaulted. No one knows about her whereabouts. Till now no investigation
has taken place while Ismail is in hiding and Vanitha's brother, an
eye-witness, is also missing.
Locals cite several such incidents. On
March 19, a ceremony was held at a dargah in Udupi. It was attended by
thousands. A local Kannada daily printed a photograph of two people carrying a
green flag with the caption, "The Pakistani flag in Udupi." Protests began
soon, and though the paper was forced by the police to print an erratum the
next day, the town remained tense. Days later, on March 26, bjp mla Raghupathy
Bhat led a procession in Udupi. Witnesses say Bhat withdrew from the scene as
members of the Sangh Parivar began to stone Muslim-owned shops en route. Bhat
was not available for comments.
Locals live in constant fear and
refuse to even speak about the hys or the Bajrang Dal. The region, where
different communities have co-existed peacefully for decades, has become
fraught with communal tension. "We always lived together. Why these people
cause trouble, I never understand," says Kanthapujari.
May 07 ,
2005
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