The Five Days that Changed Mangalore
by Anisa Fathima - Daijiworld.com Mangalore
Mangalore, Oct 11: On Tuesday October 3, Mangalore was the hub of great activity and centre of all attention, with the first direct International flight from Dubai touching its soil. The city was on the brink of major development, and praise from all quarters made us pull out our collars with unprecedented pride.
Less than 48 hours later, Mangalore was again the centre of national attention, but this time, we were forced to bow our heads with shame.
For the first time in its illustrious history, the beautiful city of Mangalore had witnessed such fear, such horror, such violence, such race for survival. A Gujarati acquaintance who called our home from Bangalore quipped, "So, your Mangalore is also becoming like our Gujarat!"
The curfew that lasted almost a week left us frustrated, fearful and hungry. Bundhs and violence had been seen in the city before, but not to an extent where people had to stay hungry for want of food. Those who witnessed the two-hour relaxation of curfew on Sunday October 8 would know what I mean - the rush and scramble to get hold of essentials like milk and vegetables was something never witnessed hitherto. The two hours were an epitome of 'survival of the fittest.' People queued up at shops and supermarkets, grabbing whatever they needed. Essential commodities disappeared from the shelves at the pace of an arrow, and many had to return home empty-handed.
Daily wage-earners were the worst affected. Even if food was available, they did not have the money to buy it. A fisherman, who did not want to be named, said on the third day of curfew, "We have had no food from two days. With much difficulty, I was able to get a kilo of rice." The area where he lives is a sensitive one, and with fearful tones he continued, "They have already burnt four shops in my neighbourhood. We are scared. At night we don’t sleep here, we move elsewhere for fear of being attacked."
What is happening to the once peaceful city of Mangalore? The heart of the city was not so violent except in a few places; it was the areas on the outskirts of the city that turned into hell overnight. No one can deny that at the core of it, there are hardly more than a few handful of people involved, but thousands had to bear the brunt. More than 90 per cent of Mangaloreans do not want trouble; the power to disrupt life was in the hands of those who belonged to the fundamentalist groups.
Religious fervour has spelt doom in our society. It is a very dangerous thing and no good can come out of it. What is the use of killing and causing trouble in the name of religion? We all know that no religion in the world preaches terror. It is misinterpretation of religions that causes problems. When we have our religious texts, scriptures, history as well as our beliefs, do we really need such fundamentalist groups, self-proclaimed leaders and so-called 'voice' to lead us? Who are the members of such groups? The uneducated, the unemployed and the poor, who fall prey to such provocations.
When violence occurs, it is not the Hindu or Muslim that dies, but a human. There is no merit in indulging in the blame game. At the end of it, it is our friends, neighbours and family who become victims of such malice. Religion is a very sensitive matter; one is as good as other, and no one has the right to malign another. Faiths, beliefs and practices are all individual matters of personal choice, and we have no business to question what our neighbour follows, unless it is harmful to the society or to us.
There are better ways to settle issues than going about destroying shops and houses and killing people. Agreed that for one community, the issue in question was grave; the cow is considered sacred, and they may stop its illegal transportation if they thought it wrong. But need it have be done in such a manner or made in to so ghastly an issue? Certainly not, they could have easily sought the assistance of law. Fundamentalist groups have caused havoc in our nation. By taking law into their own hands, they have created an atmos'fear' of anarchy and tension.
When are we going to come out of our differences and acknowledge the fact that it is needless and harmful to harbour religious animosity? Of course, terrorists seem to rule the roost today, and little can be done unless our great politicians take some decisive steps forward in countering the same. Mangalore is a fast developing city, and one cannot but be anxious about its possibility of being an easy target to future attacks from anti-social elements that cannot tolerate development.
At the end of it all, what has this violence brought us? Only shame, a blot on our image and of course, a few minutes of negative coverage on the national channels. Industries that were potential investors in the city have been forced to think twice about staking big money on a land marred by religious tension.
We will recover from the shock, of course. But will we ever be able to forget the five days that changed the face of Mangalore?
Also read:
Mangalore Bundh and Violence - Complete Coverage with Photo Albums
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