“We have come here to show unity to all Hindus,” said Ratan BH at Nehru Maidan on Sunday. A young financial consultant, Ratan came to check out the Virat Hindu Samajotsava, one of many celebrations marking the golden jubilee of the Vishva Hindu Parishad. The maidan and the city had been decked in saffron with buntings and flags lining every main road, bridge and circle. Late to the event however, Ratan missed the star speaker, 18-year-old Sadhvi Balika Saraswati.
Given Mangalore’s history of communal tension and a recent uptick of violent incidents, Mangalore police deployed 4,000 personnel and installed additional CCTVs ahead of the event. Shops and restaurants gave up on weekend business and pulled down their shutters.
Show of strength
At 2:30 pm a large procession of men, women and children carrying flags, cymbals and wearing various saffron-coloured accessories made its way along the Maidan Road adjacent to the venue. Half-celebratory, half-belligerent, they marched to the rhythm of songs emanating from a jeep parked on the side, a saffron flag fitted on its bonnet and loudspeakers strapped to the roof.
“It’s nice to see all Hindus gathered at one place at the same time,” said one viewer who sat on the footpath along with his wife and daughter. Wanting to be identified only as a professional who had come from Karkala, 65 kilometeres away from Mangalore, he said he came specially to hear Sadhvi Saraswati speak. He said he mistrusts Muslims who are trying to grab land from Hindu families in Mangalore.
He has been to many samajotsavas before and, on being asked about incendiary remarks made at such gatherings, said, “Leaders only say what is on their mind. Some young people in the audience take it the wrong way. But no, there is no hate speech and all.” He spoke loudly to be heard over a song celebrating Hindu dominance over other religions. The refrain went ‘Hum tujhko teri aukaat dikha denge [We will show you your place]”
Fiery speeches
Once the crowds filled up Nehru maidan, the speeches began. The Udupi Pejawar Mutt seer Sri Vishwesha Tirtha Swamiji spoke about the merits of following the Bhagvad Gita and reconversion to Hinduism. The Dharmasthala dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade rued that caste defences of Hinduism have fallen away.
When her turn came, Sadhvi Balika Saraswati gave a breathless and fiery speech. She exhorted all Hindus to protect gau mata and to safeguard Hindu women against 'love jihad' by arming them with swords. She extolled the virtues of ghar vapsi and assured the audience that no one could stop India from becoming a Hindu rashtra. The defence of Hinduism must be taken up on war-footing, the sadhvi said. “Shaanti chhodke kraanti karnaa chaahiye [We should abandon peace and work towards a revolution.]"
“Like the Christians have Jerusalem and Muslims have Mecca, the only place for Hindus is India,” Ratan said after the programme. But India cannot be a Hindu nation, he conceded. “We cannot ask the other communities to leave. They have also been here for long.” At the same time, Ratan and his friend Shravan Surathkal, a designer working in the city, said other communities are not respecting Hindu sentiment enough, from matters of cow-slaughter to celebrating Pakistan's cricketing triumphs.
The audience of mostly Kannada- and Tulu-speakers stared transfixed during the crescendos of the sadhvi’s speech and clapped and cheered loudly during her brief pauses. “I couldn’t hear what she said because I was busy with customers,” said a woman selling groundnuts and pani-puris on the sidelines. “Even if I could hear I wouldn’t have understood.”
Mosque attacked
Security ahead of Mangalore samajotsava extended well beyond Mangalore city into other districts of Dakshin Kannada as well. The district police didn’t want to risk another incident like that after the Hindu samajotsava in Puttur in January when the Badriya Juma Masjid at Karaya near Uppinangady town, 75 kilometers from Mangalore city, was attacked.
Ashraf, president of the mosque, narrated what happened that evening to Scroll.in:
"On Jan 14 there was a Virat Hindu samajotsava in Puttur. The attendees passed by on this road from Uppinangady to Dharmasthala in the afternoon on the way to the function. At that time itself they yelled some abuses while passing by the mosque. Our people here went to the police station and reported the incident following which they sent two policemen to our mosque.
After the function at around 7pm a convoy of vehicles returned this way. Someone from their own party threw stones at their own trucks. Once that happened everyone started yelling "they have thrown stones, they have thrown stones". Starting from there, all the vehicles stopped on this road and people started getting agitated."
A police van has been stationed outside the Karaya mosque since it was attacked after the Puttur Hindu Samajotsava in January.
First there were only a handful of people who threw stones at the building but stayed back because of the two policemen, Ashraf continued. "Later as more trucks came and stopped around 100 people gathered around the mosque. Some of them broke in. They overturned the generator and tried to set it alight. There were children inside the mosque, some as young as 12. The caretaker was attacked. By that time some of the teachers of our school had called the Superintendent of Police who came with an ambulance. While the caretaker was being taken away in the ambulance, the mob attacked the 108 vehicle and they cut him in the leg with a knife. Not one stone was thrown in the direction of the temple across the road.
Now whenever we hear that there is a Hindu Samajotsava we are worried. If a samajotsava is for celebrating Hinduism then why do they talk about other religions?"
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Given Mangalore’s history of communal tension and a recent uptick of violent incidents, Mangalore police deployed 4,000 personnel and installed additional CCTVs ahead of the event. Shops and restaurants gave up on weekend business and pulled down their shutters.
Show of strength
At 2:30 pm a large procession of men, women and children carrying flags, cymbals and wearing various saffron-coloured accessories made its way along the Maidan Road adjacent to the venue. Half-celebratory, half-belligerent, they marched to the rhythm of songs emanating from a jeep parked on the side, a saffron flag fitted on its bonnet and loudspeakers strapped to the roof.
“It’s nice to see all Hindus gathered at one place at the same time,” said one viewer who sat on the footpath along with his wife and daughter. Wanting to be identified only as a professional who had come from Karkala, 65 kilometeres away from Mangalore, he said he came specially to hear Sadhvi Saraswati speak. He said he mistrusts Muslims who are trying to grab land from Hindu families in Mangalore.
He has been to many samajotsavas before and, on being asked about incendiary remarks made at such gatherings, said, “Leaders only say what is on their mind. Some young people in the audience take it the wrong way. But no, there is no hate speech and all.” He spoke loudly to be heard over a song celebrating Hindu dominance over other religions. The refrain went ‘Hum tujhko teri aukaat dikha denge [We will show you your place]”
Fiery speeches
Once the crowds filled up Nehru maidan, the speeches began. The Udupi Pejawar Mutt seer Sri Vishwesha Tirtha Swamiji spoke about the merits of following the Bhagvad Gita and reconversion to Hinduism. The Dharmasthala dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade rued that caste defences of Hinduism have fallen away.
When her turn came, Sadhvi Balika Saraswati gave a breathless and fiery speech. She exhorted all Hindus to protect gau mata and to safeguard Hindu women against 'love jihad' by arming them with swords. She extolled the virtues of ghar vapsi and assured the audience that no one could stop India from becoming a Hindu rashtra. The defence of Hinduism must be taken up on war-footing, the sadhvi said. “Shaanti chhodke kraanti karnaa chaahiye [We should abandon peace and work towards a revolution.]"
“Like the Christians have Jerusalem and Muslims have Mecca, the only place for Hindus is India,” Ratan said after the programme. But India cannot be a Hindu nation, he conceded. “We cannot ask the other communities to leave. They have also been here for long.” At the same time, Ratan and his friend Shravan Surathkal, a designer working in the city, said other communities are not respecting Hindu sentiment enough, from matters of cow-slaughter to celebrating Pakistan's cricketing triumphs.
The audience of mostly Kannada- and Tulu-speakers stared transfixed during the crescendos of the sadhvi’s speech and clapped and cheered loudly during her brief pauses. “I couldn’t hear what she said because I was busy with customers,” said a woman selling groundnuts and pani-puris on the sidelines. “Even if I could hear I wouldn’t have understood.”
Mosque attacked
Security ahead of Mangalore samajotsava extended well beyond Mangalore city into other districts of Dakshin Kannada as well. The district police didn’t want to risk another incident like that after the Hindu samajotsava in Puttur in January when the Badriya Juma Masjid at Karaya near Uppinangady town, 75 kilometers from Mangalore city, was attacked.
Ashraf, president of the mosque, narrated what happened that evening to Scroll.in:
"On Jan 14 there was a Virat Hindu samajotsava in Puttur. The attendees passed by on this road from Uppinangady to Dharmasthala in the afternoon on the way to the function. At that time itself they yelled some abuses while passing by the mosque. Our people here went to the police station and reported the incident following which they sent two policemen to our mosque.
After the function at around 7pm a convoy of vehicles returned this way. Someone from their own party threw stones at their own trucks. Once that happened everyone started yelling "they have thrown stones, they have thrown stones". Starting from there, all the vehicles stopped on this road and people started getting agitated."
A police van has been stationed outside the Karaya mosque since it was attacked after the Puttur Hindu Samajotsava in January.
First there were only a handful of people who threw stones at the building but stayed back because of the two policemen, Ashraf continued. "Later as more trucks came and stopped around 100 people gathered around the mosque. Some of them broke in. They overturned the generator and tried to set it alight. There were children inside the mosque, some as young as 12. The caretaker was attacked. By that time some of the teachers of our school had called the Superintendent of Police who came with an ambulance. While the caretaker was being taken away in the ambulance, the mob attacked the 108 vehicle and they cut him in the leg with a knife. Not one stone was thrown in the direction of the temple across the road.
Now whenever we hear that there is a Hindu Samajotsava we are worried. If a samajotsava is for celebrating Hinduism then why do they talk about other religions?"
