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BJP carries out Shobha Yatra amid concerns
Maya Sharma
Saturday, December 2, 2006 (Chikmagalur):
The BJP in Karnataka went ahead with a controversial Shobha Yatra at Chikmagalur on Saturday.
The area is communally sensitive and there have been concerns that the rituals would jerk communal tensions, but with the strong police presence the day passed off easily.
The saffron flags were everywhere in Chikmagalur town ahead of the Shobha yatra and the police were everywhere too.
The yatra was not as great as the previous year, as it wound its way through the streets of Chikmagalur.
Communal harmony
But the BJP, which went ahead with the yatra against the wishes of its coalition partner the JDM, claims the half support of the people.
"This yatra has the support of the people that is clear, and nobody can restrict it. They have asked us to maintain peace, and we will do that," said C T Ravi, MLA, Chikmagalur.
Before 1975, the area was an example of communal harmony with Hindu rituals and the Muslim urs being held side by side at a cave in the Baba Gudangiri hills.
The situation changed post-Ayodhya, with the Sangh Parivaar setting up its presence in the south, and each year at this time the tension mounts.
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