The epicentre of communal violence in Dakshina Kannada district is the small highway town of Kalladka, set amidst undulating hills and serpentine rivers with a population of barely 6,000. This southern area of Karnataka stands out as a symbol of the polarisation, a veritable tinderbox of warring groups.
Since 2007, 152 out of 279 incidents of violence of a communal nature have been recorded in the district in just two police stations around Kalladka. This year, the region accounts for nearly three-fourths of such cases in police records.
Police have invoked IPC sections 147,148 (rioting), 504 (breach of peace), 302 (murder) and others on assault and attempt to murder, besides State laws on cow slaughter and destruction of property.
Over the last decade, Dakshina Kannada has been rocked by ‘vigilante attacks’ carried out by fringe groups. Among the most brazen was the one on a group of youth at a birthday party at a home stay in 2012. Right-wing groups like the Sri Rama Sene and Bajrang Dal have often openly targeted young inter-religious couples.
But with elections in Karnataka only a few months away, the attacks are now aimed more at politically sensitive targets.
Since April 2017, three people with political affiliations have been murdered, allegedly by those belonging to fringe groups from both the majority and minority communities.
Suresh Bhat Bakrabail, district president of Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum, who has been chronicling communal incidents since 2009, says that in 2014, there were 53 cases of couples being targeted on grounds of ‘morality.’ In 2016, that figure was down to 22. There have been only eight cases in the first six months of 2017, mostly involving inter-religious couples.
“Attacking religious places, throwing beef into temples or pork into mosques, or just escalating violence are used to polarise. In election time, it works,” he said.
Cases of assault and fatal attacks by cow vigilantes are witnessing a dip. Police statistics show that there have been over 40 instances of a communal nature in the district in 2017. Three were murders, seven cases of attempted murder, and 31, cases of rioting. This is clearly an escalation from 2016, when the district saw 20 incidents, six of them serious, but none leading to death.
Politics of processions
“Funeral marches” have resurfaced in Dakshina Kannada for the first time after 2006.
In June, a member of the Social Democratic Party of India – which declares itself as the voice of Muslims and oppressed classes – was hacked by eight men. Blaming the BJP for the murder, SDPI workers took out a large funeral procession over a 30 km route, during which an attack on another community took place.
A couple of weeks later, an RSS functionary was killed in what is being described as a retaliatory attack targeting the entire community rather than just the individual responsible. The BJP then took out a funeral procession on exactly the same route, leading to stone pelting and a polarised atmosphere. In subsequent protests, BJP leaders blamed SDPI for the death and violence.
Earlier in April, when four masked men hacked a Congress worker to death, the party blamed ‘Hindutva forces’.
“The mix of politics and the advent of election season is a worrying mix,” said a senior police officer who has worked in and around Kalladka.
The prosperous town has little claim to fame, apart from being the home of Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat, former head of the RSS in South India.
Violence is so common here that policemen and barricades are permanent fixtures. Shops have been told not to keep soft drink bottles in the open, as they would become easy weapons.
The segregation of Hindu and Muslim shops, many of the former flying saffron flags, has made them easy targets. Last month, both sides faced attacks.
The main road has an arch and a Ram temple in close proximity to a masjid. This is contentious, and the intervening space has been the site of large-scale stone pelting.
Pervasive fear
A 42-year-old man who did not want to be named bears psychological scars inflicted by the atmosphere of fear. As a paper delivery agent, he has seen protests, processions and vitriolic speeches up close.
The man was admitted for psychiatric treatment for a week, and is on anti-anxiety medication.
“I have not seen so much hate. Groups of people have been videotaping me during my rounds. I’ve cried to local leaders of both communities to spare me. When I leave my house, I feel like I won't return,” he said.
After having done well here traditionally, in 2013, the BJP suffered major losses.
The Congress won seven out of eight Assembly seats. But the fight is now more complex, with BJP looking to win back its stronghold, while the SDPI may bite away a chunk of Muslim votes from the Congress.
The ongoing campaign is virulent.
“Congress has shown that it works for minority communities. SDPI is thriving because of this political patronage. We are there to support the majority, which is clearly under attack,” said K Padmanabha Kothari, a former BJP MLA from the region that encompasses Kalladka.
