Indian Express
Jan 27, 2009
The ‘Talibans’ of Mangalore
Johnson T A
Bangalore : The Right-wing Hindu group, Sri Rama Sene, created by Belgaum-based Pramod Muttalik, following his expulsion from the Bajrang Dal in 2004, has been at the forefront of several moral policing incidents and communal violence in the Mangalore region in the last three years. Among the latest incidents the outfit has been associated with is the attack on a pub in Mangalore carried out on January 24 — something the outfit proudly claims as a “spontaneous reaction” to the alleged flouting of Indian norms of decency.
The outfit has been recently linked, though denied by Muttalik himself, to a bomb blast in a Hubli court in May 2008, following the arrest of a gang of alleged dacoits, several of whom are believed to have a history of association with groups like the Sene.
Pravin Muttalik, an alleged relative of the Sri Rama Sene chief, again denied by Pramod Muttalik, has also been implicated as a key accused in the investigations of Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) into the Malegaon blasts of 2008.
The Sri Rama Sene’s stronghold is, however, the coastal Karnataka region which saw a rise in communal politics in the aftermath of the 1991 Babri Masjid demolition.
Drawing its cadre from the young, communally inclined rowdy elements, the Sene has been primarily involved in moral policing activities like preventing inter religious ties, preventing the slaughter of cows and inciting communal violence in the region.
In 2005, the Sene was responsible for an attack on a bus carrying the employees of a local store in Mangalore. The employees, both Hindus and Muslims, were going on a picnic organised by their employers. Sene activists attacked the bus accusing the storeowners of encouraging relationships between Hindu and Muslims.
Numerous other incidents where Sene activists have monitored inter-religious relationships and attacked non-Hindus have been reported over the past three years.
In another infamous incident in 2005, an elderly man, Hasanaba, and his son were stripped and dragged in a field after they were found in a local market by Sene cadre allegedly attempting to sell a calf.
The self appointed moral policemen from the Sene are alleged to have been involved in the communal violence in Mangalore in October 2006 that resulted in the imposition of three days of curfew in the district. The violence started after Sene men tried to chase down a truck allegedly carrying cows to an abattoir in the heart of Mangalore. The Sene is alleged to have actively participated in the violence that followed, including the stabbing of a youth who was being taken to the then newly opened Mangalore airport to catch a flight to Dubai.
However, with the BJP being sympathetic to such groups and being in power in some form in Karnataka since 2006, key leaders of the Sene have courted arrest for several of these acts of violence but without serious charges being pressed against them.
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