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

Mangaluru, Oct 11: The district unit of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Sunday October 11 held a strong protest against the demand for a portion of the Nandigudda crematorium land placed by a mosque.

Noorul Islam Madrasa and Moideen Juma Masjid have asked the district administration to provide 26 cents out of the 2.58 acres of the crematorium land for use as burial ground for the Muslim community. Raising strong objections, the VHP on Sunday held a rally from Attavar to Nandigudda crematorium where a protest meet was held.

Addressing the protest, VHP district president Jagadish Shenava said, "Minority communities do not allow us to live peacefully. Wherever the number of minorities is more, there are conflicts. Now you have to fight against this and today I see about a thousand people gathered here, which is a good sign. They (Muslims) have asked for 28 cents of land here and we might feel its a small portion and we should agree to it. Now you are sleeping peacefully in the morning, but if this 28 cents of land is given, first they will use it for burial and then early morning prayers will start at 4.15 am and you will not be able to sleep in the morning.

"If you see in Pumpwell area, people there cannot sleep in the morning because of the noise from the mosque. First they ask for land, then eventually they will build mosque. Let this protest be a warning to MLAs Mohiuddin Bava and J R Lobo and ministers U T Khader and Ramanath Rai. If so many people can gather in just three days of the call for protest, then a full-fledged protest will surely see 20,000 people joining in," he said.

VHP district joint secretary Shivanand Mendon said, "Hindu crematorium is located in 9.5 acres land and about one acre of land has already been given to Mescom by the district administration without the knowledge of the Hindu community. The mosque had earlier asked for 2.95 acres which was rejected, and now it has again asked for 28 cents.

"There are about 5 lac Hindus in Mangaluru and this is the only crematorium which is available for them. We cannot give this land to anyone. In case we do not save this crematorium now, tomorrow our children will question us, saying 'anyway we cannot live, we do not even have place to conduct the final rites'."

Chief secretary of district VHP Jitendra Kottari said, "In Kerala there is a district called Malabar where right from MLA to police constable, everyone is from the minority community, and weekly holiday is on Friday. If we allow the present situation to continue, then even Mangaluru would become another Malabar. In Mangaluru, the district administration is under the minority community. All officers like deputy commissioner, MUDA chairman, RTO, and MLAs are from the minority communities. J R Lobo, Mohiuddin Bava and U T Khader are trying to have a minority-ruled district administration.

"To all those people who say right-wing organizations are jobless and spread wrong ideas among the public, the number of people gathered here itself is an answer. Today all of those detractors have been proved wrong. This is a fight not only of VHP and Bajrang Dal, but of the Hindu community. Through this protest, I want to caution the MLA and the DC. If this land is given to Muslims, then it would lead to riots," he warned.

President of Nandigudda Crematorium Committee Vasanth Shetty said, "To fight legally we need a registered committee, hence we have formed the Nandigudda Crematorium Committee, which includes the locals also. There are about one lac labourers who have come here from Vijaypura and other parts of Karnataka, and they are also buried in the same crematorium. Only 5 bodies can be cremated at a time, and rest of the bodies have to be sent back or have to wait. There is a need to save this crematorium. In the coming days, as the population of Hindus increases, it would lead to more problems due to lack of space."

The protestors also shouted slogans asserting that no portion of the crematorium land would be given.

Kateel Dinesh Pai, Sharan Pumpwell, Gopal Kuthar, Krishnamurthy and others were part of the protest.