The political stakes of Karnataka’s Mandya, on the boil after clashes throughout Ganesha procession
Bengaluru: Twenty-one individuals had been arrested Monday, in reference to communal clashes in Maddur city of Mandya district, some 100 km away from Bengaluru.
The clashes broke out at roughly 8 pm Sunday, when a Ganesha immersion procession that began from Siddhartha Nagar fifth cross was strolling previous a mosque in Ram Rahim Nagar. Some miscreants pelted stones on the procession, resulting in retaliation.
The clashes threatened to boil over, as tensions simmered in Mandya—a district quickly rising as considered one of Karnataka’s communal hotspots.
“When the procession was in entrance of the mosque, there have been some clashes. The police resorted to a lightweight lathi-charge as a result of, when regulation enforcement officers requested them (protesters) to depart, they didn’t hear. They crowded the place and tried to create bother. A complete of 21 individuals have, up to now, been arrested,” Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah advised reporters Monday.
In 2023, the Congress edged out the JD(S) within the Maddur and Mandya meeting seats, however its wins pushed JD(S) into an alliance with the BJP. In 2024, H.D. Kumaraswamy, because the alliance candidate, received the Mandya Lok Sabha seat. Mandya politics, due to this fact, has three dimensions now, creating discord.
Following the preliminary clashes, pro-Hindu teams staged protests in varied components of the district. In Maddur city, the protesters alleged that assaults had been focused on the procession. At present, a tense ambiance prevails in Mandya, as pro-Hindu teams are nonetheless mobilising to protest in opposition to the “provocation”.
In its efforts to include the scenario, the Congress-led state authorities despatched senior cops from neighbouring districts to Mandya, aside from imposing prohibitory orders on any gathering until Wednesday.
A day after the incident, senior police officer, on the situation of anonymity, advised ThePrint, “The scenario is completely underneath management now.”
These clashes hark again to others final yr in one other a part of Mandya. The 2024 clashes erupted in Mandya’s Nagamangala city, some 60 km away from Maddur, after alleged stone-pelting on a Ganesha immersion procession. Later, teams of individuals set a number of retailers on fireplace and destroyed properties value crores.
During the last yr, related incidents have been reported from throughout Mandya, also called ‘Sakkare Naadu’ (sugar metropolis).
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‘No caste. Hindus’
Leaders from the BJP and its affiliated organisations rushed to Maddur Monday, after the clashes. Amongst them was firebrand BJP chief Prathap Simha, who has typically made his presence recognized in such conditions. He addressed a crowd the place individuals sported saffron shawls and cheered the ex-MP.
“We’d like a Yogi Adityanath,” Simha stated, and the gang responded with raucous applause. His reference was to the extrajudicial demolition of properties of “rioters”, or bulldozer justice. The Uttar Pradesh CM received for a second time, because the individuals of the northern state usually are not divided by caste and establish as Hindu, Simha stated.
The BJP ecosystem, together with Simha, accuse Siddaramaiah and Congress of “appeasement politics”, and Simha Monday once more introduced the problem up.
“You (Muslims) say that we must always not make noise when passing by a mosque, however all you do is scream thrice a day that there isn’t any god aside from Allah. Don’t we take heed to it?” he stated, referring to Azaan.
He requested how the stones entered the mosque and insisted that the police ought to present safety for processions, with the gang then demanding a DJ, as nicely.
Talking about Monday’s clashes, Karnataka Residence Affairs Minister G. Parameshwara stated, “Reviews of small incidents from right here and there. A stabbing try in a single place, the place an individual had introduced a flag. In one other incident, youngsters, solely three to 4 years outdated, stood on the highest, spitting, because the Ganpati procession was passing.”
His feedback drew sharp reactions from the Opposition.
The BJP has pushed the Hindutva agenda as a ballot plank in different components of the nation, however caste is the larger think about Karnataka, the exception being the coastal districts. Of late, there have been makes an attempt to stress the Hindu id in Mandya.
In January final yr, the Keragodu village in Mandya become a fortress as Hindutva teams protested in opposition to the state authorities’s choice to disclaim them permission to hoist a saffron or non secular flag close to a bus stand.
The politics of faith has been enjoying out within the district.
Within the run-up to the 2023 meeting elections, the BJP Karnataka unit tried to prop up two characters dismissed as fictional by historians. Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, each Vokkaliga chieftains, killed Tipu Sultan over two centuries in the past, the BJP insisted. Nonetheless, the pinnacle of the Adichunchungiri Matha, the Mandya-based religious headquarters of the Vokkaliga group, finally dismissed the idea.
Earlier, in June 2022, Hindutva teams, together with the Vishva Hindu Parishad and its affiliate Bajrang Dal, sought permission from the district authorities to assemble and chant the Hanuman Chalisa in and round Maddur city. The venue picked was exterior the Srirangapatna Jumma Masjid or Masjid-i-Ala, which, Hindutva teams declare, was a temple, later transformed forcibly right into a mosque by Tipu Sultan.
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The politics in Mandya
Known as the Vokkaliga heartland, Mandya is without doubt one of the sources of power for the Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), and the hub of the farmers’ motion within the state. Political watchers say Vokkaligas are sometimes seen as supporters of former PM H.D. Deve Gowda, however the land-owning agrarian group additionally backs Prime Minister Narendra Modi within the normal elections, which, in flip, reveals a few of them help Hindutva.
Union minister and Mandya JD(S) MP Kumaraswamy posted on X Monday, “(The) Folks of Maddur ought to stay peaceable. Be cautious of evil forces that create hatred and ignite fireplace to peace. I’ve given clear directions to the district administration to arrest the miscreants who threw stones on the Ganapati procession and provides them a strong thrashing. Everybody ought to cooperate in establishing peace. The state @INCKarnataka authorities is performing in a means that displeases the Hindu group. Everybody must be vigilant about that (sic).”
His assertion displays the warning amongst JD(S) leaders with regards to the political points taken up by its alliance companion, which eyes the area and desires to safe a full majority within the 2028 meeting elections.
His son, Nikhil, travelled to Maddur Monday and warranted individuals of standing by them whereas they search justice.
“The unlucky factor right now was stone pelting in opposition to the police…. I’m not referring to this (Mandya) incident, however others. They set fireplace to police stations, however no motion is taken. Why?…. It’s to appease a group and strengthen its (Congress’s) vote financial institution,” he stated.
Talking on the Siddaramaiah authorities, Nikhil earlier stated that it withdrew 1,600 circumstances in opposition to the now-banned In style Entrance of India (PFI) in a stab at “appeasement”, aligning with the BJP narrative.
He was referring to the Congress authorities’s choice after Karnataka Residence Affairs Minister G. Parameshwara insisted that the get together look at an MLA’s request to withdraw “false circumstances” in opposition to “harmless” youths and college students. The arrests had been in reference to riots within the metropolis’s DJ Halli-KG Halli, Shivamogga, and Hubballi, amongst different areas.
After Monday’s incident, the BJP state president, B.Y. Vijayendra, blamed the Congress for forcing Hindus to endure insults and hurting their sentiments.
“(The) chief minister dislikes saffron and can throw away a saffron turban if supplied, however throughout Eid Milad, he fortunately wore a cap all day,” Vijayendra advised reporters in Delhi Monday.
He alleged that the Congress’s anti-Hindu and pro-minority insurance policies had led to the oppression of the bulk group in Karnataka.
“Hindus have repeatedly confronted insults, making a scenario the place they can not stroll with dignity. The state authorities is submitting circumstances in opposition to Hindus. The federal government is withdrawing circumstances in opposition to anti-social parts, emboldening such forces and traitors who pelted stones at Hindus in Maddur,” he claimed.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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