Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (CLP)

Mangaluru, Sep 16: Ahead of the festival season during the next three months, the district administration on Wednesday September 16 held a peace meet with leaders of major communities and organizations and urged to maintain harmony in the district.

In his introductory note, deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim said, "There are a lot of communal incidents happening in Dakshina Kannada of late. Within half an hour they spread everywhere through the social media, and by evening, they would have reached the national media too and taken on many colours. Such incidents are spoiling the image of our district. The impact of these incidents is so severe that many youths from here are finding it difficult to find jobs in other places. Employers think twice about recruiting youths from Mangaluru. Even investers hesistate to come to Mangaluru and people find it difficult to get loans from banks.

"These incidents will hamper the development of the district. All should live in peace. If such incidents continue, it will impact the overall grading of the district," he added.

VHP Go Rakshak Pramukh Dinesh Pai said, "Police are not responding to the incidents regarding cow slaughter and cattle trafficking. They are slow in responding to such incidents, mainly because of shortage of police personnel. The state government has to give proper information about law on cow slaughter and cattle transport, as lack of awareness is causing all the problems.

"Cow is a religious symbol for Hindus. If there is no cattle slaughter, there will be peace. If anything illegal happens to even a single, it hurts the religious sentiments of Hindus," he added.

In response, representatives of the Muslim community said, "The government should not put any restriction on the ritual of sacrifice during Bakrid, as after sacrificing the animal, a portion of the meat is given to the poor and the tradition has been followed for 4,000 years."

"The ritual of animal sacrifice is there in almost every religion, but why are only Muslims being pointed out? If there should be ban on animal slaughter, it should be for every animal.

"There has to be legal slaughter during Bakrid. If anyone takes law into one's hands, the district administration must take strict action," they said.

"During Ganesh Chaturthi, there should not be any tableaux which may hurt the sentiments of Muslims. There are some areas where Bajrang Dal has put up banners against celebration of Bakrid. They have to be removed immeidately," the representatives of Muslim community urged.

"The government has to take steps to provide protection or else peace in the city will be disrupted in the days to come. There should be special police protection during the three days of Bakrid from September 24 to September 27," they urged.

MLA J R Lobo said, "Youth from Mangaluru are going abroad for jobs, as they feel concerned about the incidents happening in the district and they are not able to get jobs here due to lack of investments. Why is Mangaluru divided on religious lines - This is the question asked by every youth. Because of 0.2 percent of the people of the district who are creating disturbances, the image of the entire district is affected. Police must punish everyone involved in such acts irrespective of religion. Religious activities have to be within limits and no one should take law into one's hands. We need only peace and development in the district."

Hanumanth Kamath of Nagarika Hitha Rakshana Samiti said, "Holding peace meets only during festival season will not be beneficial as representatives of some organizations say they are peace lovers in front of the media, but in reality they are not in favour of peace. Such meetings should be held in every police station every month, even when small incidents take place. Earlier such meetings used to be held regularly, but ever since the new police commissioner took charge, he seems to have forgotten to continue the practice.

"Around 90 percent of the people in Dakshina Kannada do not know the law on cattle transport and slaughtering. As people are ignorant, proper information should be disseminated to the public. Only then will peace prevail," he said.

Police commissioner S Murugan said, "I request everyone to cooperate with the police department and help in maintaining peace. The police department has made all arrangements to ensure a peaceful festival season. Check-posts and CCTV cameras have been installed in all the sensitive areas and arrangements are also in place to ensure free flow of people and traffic through procession routes. We have also conducted peace meets in every police station. Police will provide all protection to the public. I wish everyone a peaceful festival season. All the legal things will be appreciated, and no violation of law will be tolerated. Stern action will be taken against every violator in accordance with the law."

District incharge minister Ramanath Rai said, "Rural areas are more peaceful than urban areas, as people in cities are over intelligent. I urge everyone to maintain peace have a happy, festive atmosphere. Do not create problems for others."

He also asked the police department to take strict action against anyone who creates unnecessary problems during festivals. "The inspector incharge of the police station should be responsible for any untoward incident that happens in the limits of his area. The police must ensure that there are no provocative banners or tableaux," he said.

"Many times untoward incidents happen during festivals, but every time the CCTV footage will be out of coverage of the incident or not working. All CCTV cameras must be checked prior to the festival and the police department should not give any excuse about malfunctioning of the CCTVs," he added.

SP Sharanappa, MLA Mohiuddin Bava, mayor Jacintha Alfred, MUDA chairman Kodijal Ibrahim, ZP CEO Srividya and others were present.