Coastal Karnataka has witnessed a sudden rise in violent attacks by Hindutva groups

From: The Times of India

The politics of partying
Manu Aiyappa Aug 6, 2012, 06.37PM IST


Coastal Karnataka has witnessed a sudden rise in violent attacks by Hindutva groups. It's apparent that these incidents are not random but a concerted campaign of communal policing to covertly push a divisive Hindutva agenda and propel BJP's electoral prospects.

Ministers in the BJP government are publicly fretting and fuming against the alleged perpetrators, Hindu Jagaran Vedike, but it is evident that they have no intention of taking any action; they wish to keep the "highly emotive" issue alive in the run-up to the state elections.

"The goons who attacked students at a Mangalore homestay surely enjoy political patronage. Otherwise, why would they dare to take the law into their hands?" says Vinay Hegde, chancellor of Nitte University.

The desperation to win Hindu votes can be gauged from the fact that politicians have been digging up old issues like "love jihad" and cow slaughter just after the Mangalore attack to polarize votes.

The BJP did leverage "love Jihad" for its own benefit in the aftermath of the Mangalore attack. In fact, whenever there has been an attack on revelry, the saffron party has been maintaining that youth from a particular community in the neighbouring state are luring innocent girls. Hence, the dire need for moral policing.

According to political analysts, Hindu votes constitute over 65% of the coastal electorate in Karnataka and can tilt elections in around 30 out of a total 40 seats in the assembly. Surely, a polarisation of votes would benefit only the BJP.

"In the run-up to the elections, the BJP has kept aside poll ethics and is brazenly wooing one community. This is obviously a cause for concern for the Congress because their electoral prospects are based on a Hindu-Muslim combination, whereas the BJP has an advantage of solid Hindu support. Even a small percentage of Hindu votes will tilt the scales in favour of the Congress," says political analyst B V Rajashekar.

The Congress often complains that all radicals outfits take cover under the BJP's ideological umbrella. The fact that there have been no prosecutions in such cases is an indication that the government in Karnataka has deliberately switched itself off from such issues. The BJP argues that when the Congress was in power, they too let such incidents go by unpunished as they were afraid of losing Hindu votes.

It's the case of misgovernance seeking to define social values.