by Richie Lasrado, Resident Editor
Pics Dayanand Kukkaje and Sphoorti Ullal
Mangalore, Oct 13: As we said once earlier, there is a sense of complacency pervading here that the city and the district have turned normal again. We pat our own backs saying that there is a built-in resilience making us get back to business as usual.
But behind this facade, lies the stark reality of the underbelly of our city life. The loss in terms of business lost, manhours ruined and the city coming to a standstill, is not just gauged in money or in kind. The delicate fabric of our society has been fragmented, yet again. The poison of hatred that has been injected in many public minds, especially the unemployed youth, will have its effect for a long time.
Rice being distributed
Passengers stranded during the bundh
As we spoke to people from various walks of life, we could not help noticing an underlying undercurrent of a longing for peace and harmony in the hearts of everyone. While a part of the media hyped the flames of communal skirmishes, the humane part of the story remained hardly exposed. There were several instances of persons from different communities running to each other's help. When a minority man needed assistance, a group of rickshaw-drivers, belonging to the majority community, ran to his rescue, braving all odds.
Equally touching is the story of a middle-aged female fish vendor, belonging to the majority community, from Ullal when she suffered a heart attack during the curfew. When no help was forthcoming it was a group of men belonging to the minority community that took all risks of police beatings and rushed her to a nearby private hospital. The woman succumbed, partly because of the delay caused when the police stopped their vehicle to conduct a check as the curfew was in force.
Politicians visiting the sick in the hospital
A well-placed employee of a corporate company, hailing from another southern state and living here for the last five years, is all praise for the city and its quiet ambience. "There are certain problems, which are common to all cities. But, in general, Mangalore has been a wonderful city to live in. I was held up in the office during the curfew. I did not face any difficulties because of the facilities available in the office. But I pity the poor people, the coolie workers, who were the worst-hit," he said.
A businessman, running a large grocery shop, said he was just disgusted with bundhs. "Now it is time for all businessmen to get together and chalk out a plan to prevent all such bundhs. Some concerted action should be taken."
A helpless two-wheer rider woman bearing the brunt of the curfew
Daily wage-earners waiting to earn their bread
An office-going woman said she was in terrible tension on the first day of the bundh, since, while her presence was necessary in the office, her children had returned home from school in the morning itself. They had to wait outside for two hours, since she could not go home to open the door for them. No rickshaws or buses were available. However, an unknown gentleman, belonging to another community, dropped her home safely, she recalled with gratitude.
A social worker from the city bought large quantiies of rice and other commodities and supplied them to the needy at prices subsidized from his pocket.
There are several of such instances. The sufferings during the curfew was a different story. While the trouble-makers went scotfree and stayed safe in their homes, some poor people who were looking for ways to earn their daily bread, were brutally beaten up for coming out in the open. The additional police forces had come from outside the district and they did not know the life and languages of this place. With accountability not in demand and their being on an alien ground without anyone to question them, they went about with abandon to enforce the curfew regulations.
A media colleague spotted a young staff nurse of a hospital going to attend duty being beaten up. Her explanation that she was going on duty would not convince the men in khakhi. It is reliably learnt that after this colleague brought this matter to the notice of DGP Sial at his press conference that the cops were given instructions to go about with consideration. Similarly, a French visitor to the city in transit, who did not know anything about the curfew, was being roughened, while he was on his way to the railway station to catch a train out of Mangalore. But for the timely arrival of our correspondent on the scene, he would have been simply thrashed. Our man dropped him at the railway station and in turn the tourist thanked him with folded hands, in typical Indian style.
A man who lost his everything narrates his woes to minister Shetty
A foreign tourist and rickshaw driver facing the police wrath
A senior citizen said: "For the first time the citizens got to know what discipline was. There has been rampant violation of traffic regulations. Three persons riding motorbikes, two-wheelers riding parallel to each other and talking to each other on the main roads, thereby inconveniencing the traffic behind them, speeding and various others. For a few days at least, they behaved well."
Another senior person added, "For some days at least there was no pollution on the roads, no bullying of pedestrians and smaller vehicles with blaring horns, no breakneck speeding, no overtaking and what not. All the hardships apart, this was a plus point."
A regular office-goer made an interesting remark: "Since the roads were free for many days, at least under police protection, the roads could have been repaired. An ideal opportunity has been lost," he said.
Well, the normalcy has returned all right. But what about the damage done to the image of Mangalore, the flames of hatred that were spread? It is only hoped that everything is forgotten as a nightmare and no signs of revenge will be left behind.
The saddest part of all this turmoil was that many of our elected representatives and political leaders, instead of applying the healing balm on the fresh wounds, became flies in the ointment themselves by issuing statements of passing the buck and indulging in a blame-game.
Fishing in muddled waters, as the old saying goes.
Daijiworld Special Stories on Bundh and Curfew
Mangalore Bundh and Violence - Complete Coverage with Photo Albums
Day 8:
Day 7:
Day 6:
Day 5:
Day 4:
Day 3:
Day 2:
Day 1: