Report by Viju Mangalore, Pics by Vivek Studio
Mangalore, Jul 25: Expressing solidarity in fighting against the communal forces which have been sowing seeds of hatred in the society and in protest against the attack on "Hotel Ashirwad" at Kulshekar here on July 24, the Catholics of Mangalore Diocese held a mega rally in the city on Tuesday, Jul 25.
Indeed a historic day for the Mangalorean Catholic community as a crowd of nearly 4,000 people gathered to give vent to their anger against the communal groups. Although the protest was planned overnight, the overwhelming response from not only Catholics, but also other minority sections of the society is laudable.
Under the banner of Konkani Yuva Awaz, various organizations including the Catholic Sabha, Kulshekar unit, ICYM Kulshekar, Nagarika Seva Samiti, CLC etc walked a journey from Kulshekar church to Kadri police station located between the Circuit House and Karnataka Polytechnic (KPT).
Once at KPT, an open meet was organized where advocate and Congress leader Ivan D’Souza, advocate M P Noronha and M G Hegde, director of Mangalore Institute of Fashion Technology (MIFT) spoke.
Condemning the communal forces in the district, Ivan appealed to the government to ban such organizations. He came down heavily on the repeated acts of vandalism by certain Hindu outfits and the victimization of the religious minority.
Violence Mars Peace Protest
With banners and placards the protesters conducted a peaceful agitation. However, as the rally reached half way a sole instance of stone pelting was reported in which a city bus was damaged.
Tension Prevails
As slight tension prevailed in the region, the journalist fraternity, which was irked by the rude behaviour of one of the members of the Catholic community, boycotted the event. One of the presspersons who was capturing the stone-pelting incident was stopped by a protester who allegedly tried to snatch his camera. Following this, the entire journalist fraternity present the venue opposed this. Although the organizers apologized for the discourteous behaviour, a compromise was not achieved.
Speaking to Daijiworld, advocate Ivan D’Souza pointed out the government's failure in convicting those who were involved in the earlier attacks on minority and backward communities and on religious institutions. He demanded the disabling of the entire system, which promoted communal ideologies.
Ivan said that the police had arrested those involved in ransacking of the hotel at Kulshekar and those arrested confined to judicial custody. Further he said that a delegation of several secular leaders of the society would meet on July 26 and hold discussions with the deputy commissioner on curbing the communal forces in the district.
Tuesday’s protest was a roaring success in showing to the society the strength and unity of the religious minority communities, which gathered for a cause, overnight.
Several religious leaders including Catholic priests and nuns participated in the protest rally.