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.”
