The Hindu
Mangalore
August 3, 2012
A social disease is afflicting Dakshina Kannada: Vaidehi
MOHIT M. RAO
The writer is pained by what is happening in her once-peaceful native land
Less than a decade ago, Dakshina Kannada was peaceful; but all of that changed once certain political forces came into the picture, said Kannada writer Janaki Srinivasa Murthy, better known by her pen name Vaidehi.
In a interview with The Hindu after the assault by Hindutva ‘activists’ on college students celebrating a birthday party in the Morning Mist Homestay hit media headlines late Saturday evening, she said: “I’m still grappling with why this social disease is inflicting the district.”
Narrow thought
Dismissing the activists’ contention that the act protected ‘Hindu culture’, Vaidehi said the assault had in fact prompted her, and probably many others, to question their personal interpretations of the culture.
“Yes, I am ashamed when they (Hindutva activists) do things like this in the name of the religion. The religion envelops many beliefs, and yet these assaulters seem to be practising a narrow thought. One is forced to ask if our religion does indeed say these things (use of violence) is necessary to protect culture,” said the Sahitya Akademi Award recipient.
‘Constant change’
The issues brought out by the assault on college students, she said, goes beyond the simplistic reading of Hindu culture and delves into the larger concept of globalisation. “We can’t live in the age of the Puranas. Society is constantly changing. Why do the assaulters think they can stop it by force and violence? What kind of objective is there during an assault on women?”
The first blow
Though globalisation may have induced a change in outlook among certain sections of society, what still remains the same is the treatment of women.
In the “war” between those who oppose the changes brought on by modernisation and those who have embraced it, it is always the woman who suffers the first blow.
“In every war, it is the woman who is targeted first. Armies rape women and attack them as a part of their assault. Even in the Mahabharata, there is an attempt on Draupadi’s dignity by removing her sari,” said the writer.
While commending the role of the media in filming the assaulters, she lamented that the repeated telecast of clips of victims, saying it’s bound to traumatise them.
Even as those responsible for the pub assaults in 2010 and similar ‘moral policing’ incidents are at large, when asked if it is justified to lose faith in the system, Vaidehi said thoughtfully: “To lose faith in democracy is to surrender and give up. Justice must be delivered within the system itself.”
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The Hindu
MANGALORE, July 29, 2012
‘Culture police’ barge into homestay, attack women
Mangalore Bureau
Hindu fundamentalists’ hand suspected in Mangalore outrage
A group of men barged into a homestay at Padil on the outskirts of Mangalore around 6 p.m. on Saturday and manhandled young men and women there.
Television channels telecast footage of a group of men, allegedly belonging to a Hindu fundamentalist group, forcibly entering a room at ‘Morning Mist’ and attacking some of those inside. At one point, a young man is seen pleading with the attackers that it is his birthday, but the attackers punch him in the abdomen. A woman is seen saying, “We did not do anything.” Another young woman is slapped by one of the attackers and she collapses. In another clip, two men are seen dragging a woman by her hands.
Bringing back memories of the infamous pub attacks here in 2009, the attackers reportedly claimed that a rave party was being held on the premises, and the party-goers had indulged in activities ‘unacceptable to Hindu culture.’
According to the police, the number of attackers is not known. It is said there were 13 people, including five women, in the room that was targeted.
The Mangalore Rural police have booked a case.
The police escorted the young men and women who were attacked from the spot and are on the lookout for the owner of the homestay.
Deputy Commissioner N.S. Channappa Gowda said preliminary information indicated that Hindutva organisations were involved, but no group has claimed responsibility. He said some persons were arrested. Such incidents brought a bad name to Mangalore and it was important to establish who was behind the attack.
Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh, who visited the spot, refused to speak to the media. Television channels that were with the attackers should have prevented the incident, he said.
Ashok, a member of the Shanthinagar Badalagudda Residents’ Association, claimed the association had warned the homestay against holding parties late into the night.
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