Mangalore: Need to stand up and fight against moral policing - Panel
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (NM)
Mangalore, Jul 28: Exactly a year since the ignominious attack on Morning Mist home stay at Padil took place, a gathering of nearly a hundred like-minded individuals and those who were wtiness to the incident came together at School of Social Work, Roshni Nilaya to debate on the issue of moral policing in the city and recall what exactly happened on that fateful day.
The discussion was organized by Journalists Study Centre, Karnataka, and Forum Against Atrocities on Women, Mangalore on Sunday July 28.
Advocate Arvind Narrain of Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore, said that one needs to see beyond just the pub attack of 2009 and last year's home stay attack. "In between these two incidents, as many as 112 cases of moral policing were reported. Such incidents happen mostly when an inter-caste issue is involved. This is one side of it.
"On the other side we have people who have shown courage in standing up and fighting against it. A boy named Pavan, who witnessed the pub attack, had tried his best to stop the attackers. He later told me that he was the only one who had tried to fight and if everyone had fought alongside him, the attack could have been stopped and they wouldn't have had the courage to assault anyone. But most people merely watched on as spectators watching a cricket match. Hence we need people to stand up and oppose such incidents," Narrain said.
"The number 112 is not just statistics. We need to garner strength to resist moral policing. We should live up to the plegde enshrined in the Indian Constitution. It is not just right to life that is important, we need to live with dignity too. The idea of fraternity and brotherhood is losing significance. It is now all about animosity between religions and regions. When there is no fraternity, liberty and equality also lose meaning," he said.
"We are equal only politically but not economically or socially. There are constant fights, wars and violence, but all these can be defeated through inter-caste marriages, by which people of different faiths can come together and differences be broken. We need to destroy our prejudices and biased thinking," he opined.
Mamatha S Yajman of Vimochana, Bangalore, a forum that fights for the rights of women, pointed out that everytime, it is the woman who is held at fault by the society. "If she marries a man of another religion, she is held guilty, and the society attacks her but not the man," she said.
Launching a tirade against moral policing outfits, she said, "Who are these moral police? Who gave them the right to attack people? Have they not committed any mistake in their lives? Do they think they are perfect? Have they no feelings?"
She also slammed the report submitted by the Women's Commission chief C Manjula soon after the home stay incident, in which she had held the boys and girls responsible for the incident. "I was not at all happy with that report. Being a woman she herself had gone against women," Mamatha said.
Terming the Vedike (Hindu Jagarana Vedike) that carried out the attack as 'daylight robbers' she said, "When atrocities against women take place, they cannot come forward to raise their voice in unison, but when they go to attack someone, they go in large numbers. These same people are later projected as leaders and used politically and they get huge support, while the victims are held at fault. I have no faith in judiciary."
Police had prior knowledge of attack - Naveen Soorinje
TV journalist Naveen Soorinje, who had recorded the incident and was chargesheeted by the police, arrested in a flash operation in November 2012, and later released by court orders, recalled the incident and claimed that the police had prior knowledge of the attack but did not take action.
"I got a call on July 28 at around 7 pm about a huge group gathered near the home stay. I rushed to the spot thinking that it may be another attack like the pub one. At 7.15 pm when the group attacked, I called Kankanady circle inspector Ravish Naik, but he did not receive my call. I then called another TV journalist and asked him to contact Ravish Naik, but his call also went unanswered. By then the attack had started and hence I videographed the incident.
"A few people have asked me why I did not stop the attack. I am identified as a person against Hindu outfits. If I had intervened, they would have thrashed me also and broken my camera, and I would not have the evidence that I have today. I am not Rajinikanth (Tamil superstar) to fight against 40 men all at once and get out unscathed," he said.
"However, later, when I checked Ravish Naik's phone records, I was surprised to see that at 7 pm he had received a call from Subhash Padil (main accused). He had all the time in the world and the resources to stop the attack, but he did not do it. I then realized that the whole thing was pre-planned and the police knew about it. The police came after sometime. I have the video and I can give it anyone who wants it," he said.
"The police locked the girls and boys in a room and reprimanded them, while the attackers stood around freely and talked to the police casually. The police too thought that the students were at fault and not the attackers. The attackers had tried to label it as a rave party or a prostitution ring," Soorinje added.
"The 40 attackers were not arrested at the time of the incident, but the students were taken to the police station. The police realized their fault only after the incident became headlines on national channels and they were forced to take action," he said.
At this point, Mamatha added that when girls or women are taken to police station, it is mandatory that women police are present, but in this case they were not.
Girl victims' silence regrettable - Gurudutt Kamath
Gurudutt Kamath, one of the victims of the incident, said that in the last one year, he has gone through a process of transformation. "I have taken yoga classes too and done my best to fight legally. We wanted to support the truth which had been misinterpreted. The police mistreated us and used abusive language," he said.
"At that time when we were going through a trauma, no one supported us. We were locked in a room by the police and when we demanded why they had locked us, they abused us verbally. We were told to cover our faces and taken to police station as if we had done wrong. The police reprimanded our parents too," he recalled.
"People are not ready to accept change. The society has become money-minded and forgotten that we are humans. Humanity has lost its value," he lamented.
"It was only Vijay (another victim), my mother Kumuda and I who came forward to fight. The parents of the five girls who were present that day never allowed their daughter to fight for justice, which is really regrettable," he said, adding that he would want a wife who would be courageous enough to fight against wrong.
"Vijay and I faced a lot of threats. Even when we went to celebrate Mosaru Kudike, a group came and thrashed us," he added.
Vijay Kumar, whose birthday the boys and girls were celebrating on July 28, 2012 at the home stay, was wished by the audience with the 'Happy Birthday' song.
In his address, Vijay said that when he went to the court to testify in support of Soorinje, he received a call from the police. "The policeman told me that I am just a boy and do not know anything about life, and it would be better for me to support the police. I replied to him that I will support the truth," he said.
"Allegations of illegal activities were also levelled at Gurudutt's mother who ran a spa. Still we kept on our fight," he said.
The audience gave a loud round of applause to Gurudutt, his mother and Vijay Kumar for their courage. An open discussion was also held in which members of the audience actively participated. Social activist Vidya Dinker compered and moderated the discussion.
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