Bajrang Dal fatwa: Can't speak, can't love

Bengaluru/Mangaluru: The Mudigere unit of the Bajrang Dal has reportedly warned on WhatsApp that "whoever (Hindu girl) is found in the company of a Muslim (boy) will be made to pay as it is their duty to save Hinduism," even as a second girl has gone missing from Bantwal on Tuesday in less than a week following a visit to her home by a group of Bajrang Dal activists, who warned her parents against the perils of allowing their 20 year old daughter to go out with a non-Hindu.

Bajrang Dal activists further upped the ante in Bantwal rural where a group of four led by Umesh, his brother Rajesh, a man named Ramesh and one other, barged into the home of an SC woman, pushed her and other family members around and warned her to stop her daughter from speaking to Muslims or be evicted from the village. 

This is the third case of alleged moral policing. The first had tragic consequences, when four days ago, 20 year old Dhanyashree, a B.Com student committed suicide in Mudigere in Chikamagaluru district after five BJP Yuva Morcha members arrived at her doorstep and warned her against befriending Muslims.

During a conversation between  Dhanyashree and her friend Santhosh over the futility of caste and communal violence, the young woman had texted her friend that she loved Muslims. The distraught girl left a suicide note behind stating that she was unable to cope with the harassment at the hands of the alleged Hindutva group and was taking her own life.

Chikmagaluru police have arrested BJP’s Yuva Morcha President Anilraj and are looking for the four others who accompanied him to the suicide victim's home.

In Bantwal, the police are in the process of registering a missing complaint by the girl’s parents. “We need to verify the details,” said an official source.

Cases of communal violence and moral policing are on the rise in coastal Karnataka in the run up to Assembly elections in May.

On Monday night an alleged rowdy sheeter– Bharath - complained to the police that he had escaped a fatal attack in Suratkal by four men from the minority group, who had accosted him with the intention to kill him.

 “Violence in the region is premeditated and is being instigated by vested interests. It is getting out of hand because of the involvement of the extortionists and street thugs in either camp. The ‘communal campaign’ on both the sides – the PFI and Hindutva brigade has been taken over by extortionists, who are out of their control and extorting money from helpless people," a source said.

"Saffron and green flags hog public spaces in Dakshin Kannada district to mark their territories by BD, Hindu Jagran Vedike and their arch rivals - Popular Front of India (PFI) and its political arm – the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). There’s growing mistrust among the two communities and communal violence is becoming a daily affair. The police have to act ruthlessly against the perpetrators, whoever they are before the fire goes out of hand and spreads to other districts of Karnataka,” said an official source.

“The PFI has suffered a major setback with the arrest of its top cadre members, who were allegedly involved in the murder cases of Bajrang Dal and anti cow slaughter activist - Prashanth Poojary - in October 2015 in Moodbidri and RSS member R. Rudresh in Bengaluru in October 2016. The NIA has chargesheeted all the five accused in the Rudresh murder case stating that the PFI has been selectively targetting the RSS and like-minded organizations to strike terror among their cadre. They are now reportedly hiring small time workers like mechanics, auto-rickshaw drivers and petty shop owners to run their communal agenda. There are similar elements in the BD and HJV. Both the camps are highly radicalized. The underworld, which is also divided on caste lines, is also trying to stake claim in communal politics. The politicians across party lines are adding fuel to the fire by making provocative statements,” the officer added.

The biggest problem is that the police, tasked to maintain the peace are unable to gauge the situation because of frequent transfers of senior officers and at the police station level. “There is no stability of tenure, whether it is the IGP (Western Range) or Commissioner, Mangaluru City; transfers are the order of the day. An otherwise beautiful range, no officer likes to get posted here because he knows he will be shunted out in less than a year’s time and also branded as either pro-Congress or pro-BJP,” said another senior officer on condition of anonymity.

The moral policing epidemic
An MCom student who is also the district secretary of Students Federation of India (SFI) Madhuri Bolar has alleged that photos of her with her friends, including Hamza Kinya, who is a Muslim are being circulated and trolled in the social media by  right-wing activists.  Madhuri alleged that the messages were making rounds that Hamza was seen with Hindu girls and Hindus have to keep an eye on him.

Mangaluru City North constituency BJP leaders have filed a defamation case of Rs 1 crore against JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy. The case was filed a day after HDK alleged that a BJP leader was behind the murder of Deepak Rao.

Moral cops warn woman, daughter
In a third case of moral policing in the district, four people from right wing outfits barged into a house in Bantwal and warned a woman to stop her daughter from talking to Muslims. The incident took place in Bantwal Rural police limits. 

“The four trespassed into the house of the woman, who belongs to the SC community, and warned her that her daughter should not speak to Muslims. They also pushed the woman around, and had a fight with the family members. They told the family to get out of the village if they want to continue with such activities,” SP Sudheer Kumar Reddy said. 

A case was registered and two accused, Umesh and Ramesh, were arrested. Umesh's brother Rajesh and another accused are absconding.