Mangalore riots: Centre steps in, curfew relaxed

Union Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed today held discussions with the home ministry officials on the situation in Mangalore where two persons have died in communal violence in the last three days.

As curfew was relaxed for two hours in Mangalore town and Ullal, Konaje and Mangalore rural limits, observers said the latest outbreak of violence was worrying.

Economic deprivation, growth of Hindutva and widespread hostility to HD Deve Gowda and the caste coalition he represents are responsible for the radicalisation of Dakshina Kannada, they say.

The cause of riots was a rumour that cattle were being taken for slaughter. This brought the Bajrang Dal on the streets. On Friday, a band of young people calling themselves the Sri Rama Sena demonstrated against the arrest of one of their colleagues.

The same day, Muslim youths retaliated by attacking shops and business establishments, forcing police to impose curfew. Yesterday, mobs stopped an ambulance, asked the passengers to get down and stabbed one of them.

Mangalore is a city of the rich and beautiful (Aishwarya Rai and Sunil Shetty belong to Mangalore) as well as poor bidi-rollers, fishermen, weavers, wage labourers and backward communities.

The change in social relations began in the 1970s with land reforms creating space for backward castes. For example, Billavas, a toddy tapper community was able to claim a new identity as traders, politicians, hoteliers, and exporters.

In the past, the backwards and poor used to be the support base of the Congress while the BJP supporters were the upper castes, the Bunts (small feudatories with large landed interests) and Saraswat Brahmins.

But over the years, because of social and economic mobility, these lines have blurred. Today, almost all cooperatives in the coastal belt have been taken over by the Hindutva elements, who now control the economic muscle in the region.

But the region has also seen the rise of the Muslims, mainly as a result of Gulf jobs. Muslim control of textiles, hotels, canning and timber industries has led to fear that they will take over the economy. This is especially true of lower-caste Muslims who earlier used to be engaged in beedi-rolling and small-time trading.

What is more, the dominantly Vokkaliga Janata Dal (S) led by HD Dewe Gowda has no resonance in this part of Karnataka. As a result, during his chief ministership, Mangalore saw little or no development. What does get noticed here is his repeated exhortation that he is not anti-Muslim despite an alliance with the BJP.

On the ground, the supporters of the BJP, too, are not comfortable with the alliance.

With the decline of the Congress and Gowda's unconcern for regional disparity, what has happened in Mangalore is likely to be witnessed in other areas of Karnataka like Hubli-Dharwad and Coorg which have been radicalised by the growth of the BJP. For some years, Karnataka is likely to be on the list of communally sensitive places.