Mangalore: Intellectuals Call for Urgent Action Plan to Infuse Lost Confidence
Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Aug 1: The deplorable act of hooligans masquerading as moral police assaulting, molesting and manhandling young boys and girls in Mangalore has once again jolted the conscience of the people of undivided Dakshina Kannada. No doubt the incident has been denounced by all the right thinking people, except a few sickening and sadistic individuals who justify the acts of these hoodlums in the name of culture.
The incident is now fresh in our minds but soon it will be elapsed until we are rankled by another and much more disgusting incident than this. As prevention is better than cure the situation is idoneous for the prominent people of these districts to come together and deliberate on an action plan so that such despicable incident doesn’t recur. While the common people can talk and lend moral support it is high time the prominent people of Mangalore who are respected and looked up to by people for guidance and advice, to take up the mantle and try to fill some sense in the minds of those who provide political, financial and moral support to these anti-social elements indulging in such contemptible acts.
More than the brand image of Mangalore taking a beating in the eyes of the world there is an urgent need to infuse confidence among the people especially women who now feel insecure even in their own cozy homes. It looks as though the Taliban is much more decent and tolerable compared to the worst-than –Taliban-kind of situation this incident brings to the minds of people in Mangalore now.
Daijiworld contacted some of the highly respected and prominent people of the coastal districts to elicit their views on the incident, what can be done to prevent it in future and whether they feel it is their responsibility to rise to the occasion and do something tangible to build confidence level among people.
Dr D Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Sri Kshethra Dharmasthala termed it as a stray incident which happens in a society for various reasons. “What is good and what is bad, what is our tradition or our culture cannot be dictated to by anybody to anyone. We value our culture, tradition and customs and our Indian spiritual way of life. At the same time we can infuse good senses into those people who might bring bad name by various methods like discussions, counseling or to some extent by protests. Gandhiji has given us the powerful instrument of satyagraha. Anna Hazare is using the same instrument and the whole world is responding to him positively because he is a satyagrahi. Hitting the boys and girls and putting them to shame is not the right way of doing it. If anybody felt it is against our culture they should have done it in a polite way or in the true spirit of Satyagraha which would be much more effective”, Dr Heggade stated.
Vinaya Hegde, President of Nitte Education Trust and Chancellor of Nitte University described it as “the most disgusting I have seen in my entire life. I know something has to be done and I am ready to do whatever little I can. I also feel concerned about these ghastly incidents. But there is a ministry and there are the police to enforce law and order situation in the city. If we try to intervene it will be like undermining their powers and responsibilities. At the moment I am numbed by the incident and I cannot think any plan or action to put an end to it. But we will have to do something about it”.
Dr Mohan Alva, Chairman of Alva’s Education Foundation who is the true cultural ambassador of Dakshina Kannada, was vehement in his criticism terming it as “cowardice, shameful and irresponsible act”. He said “Personally I am very hurt I feel helpless seeing this kind of incident happening in Mangalore which is well-known for its achievements in the field of health, education and culture. The media too is a party in this irresponsible act by showing the faces of these young girls in the TV. Don’t they have any responsibility as citizens? If this incident were to happen in a country like America, Germany or England these hooligans would have been put inside the bars for lifelong”.
Dr Alva also said that he feels helpless not knowing what he can do in a situation like this. “If there is a proper forum I am ready to come and do whatever I can within my capacity. I know I can create a scene by bringing the students to the streets but that is not the solution. If I do something I know I will be the next target because I cannot battle with these people who don’t have the reasoning power. There was no need for these third rate ruffians to take law in their hands. If they found anything objectionable they should have called the management of the educational institutions, principals, parents or the police rather than trying to show their manliness hitting hapless girls”, Dr Alva stated. Dr Alva also took a dig at the law enforcing police force for their failure to ensure safety and security to the people.
Giselle Mehta, former bureaucrat and novelist attributes these kinds of incidents to the growing cultural and economic disconnect and say that a firm hand of law and order will ensure that this will be an isolated incident. “Initiatives from various stakeholders can wait while the authorities do their job of regulating law and order. If unchecked, a repetition of this unfortunate episode will undermine Mangalore’s reputation as a progressive and enlightened space”, she pointed out. Giselle expressed happiness that the student community which is most impacted by this incident has come together and shown as a strong front to combat hooligan elements and it is heartening to know many educational institutions have supported them, she stated.
Architect Dharmaraj minces no words to blame the media and the police for their laxity and irresponsibility. “Whatever justification the journalists in question may offer I believe the journalist has been irresponsible. A journalist is a citizen of Mangalore first and a journalist next. Mangalore is like his mother and the journalist cannot shirk his responsibility by saying he tried informing one police. Journalists if they want can call up Chief Ministers, Ministers, DG and any top officials and can even enter any office with the power of the press card. If one police had not responded he should have tried any other top police official”. Moreover, Dharmaraj says that one cannot simply buy the argument that he (the journalist) was not aware of the incident in advance. “I just want to ask whether the journalist would have video graphed the faces if it had involved his own family members and exposed them without blurring the images, as was done by them in this case”.
Dharmaraj opines that the police should investigate the role of anybody and everybody in the incident and give proper punishment to the culprits. The culprits will desist from doing this only if they are properly punished. The police should file a suo muto FIR if there is no complaint and should not leave the culprits scot-free, he said. He requested the media to be the responsible citizens of Mangalore before being media persons. We went on to add “it is human to err and even if someone (the youngsters) had done something wrong it should be brought to the notice of the law enforcing authorities or to their parents. If everyone takes law in their hands only jungle raj would prevail. We should not allow Mangalore to become unsafe for the people are it men or women”.
Now it has come to know that some of the people involved in the recent attack were also the main masterminds involved in the 2009 pub attack. If stern action was taken against the goondas by filing a suo motu FIR then, the latest incident of Padil would not have occurred. For the moment we are assured that law will take its own course and the guilty will be punished. We can only wait and watch and ensure that public memory remains long enough to bring the culprits to book.
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