Opinion/ V C Bhaskaran

For a mosque that was not destroyed, hundreds were on the streets to loot, burn and kill!

New age Bangalore is actually living in the dark ages. This has been proved time and again. The latest instance is the orgy of violence the Garden City witnessed in Jayanagar, one of its posh areas, on Wednesday, September 17.

The violence which spread like wildfire had ugly portents. The rampaging mobs which collected in no time chased policemen and members of the public. One constable was hacked to death. A young couple was chased nearly to their death. Many more were victims of such chase-and-kill attempts by frenzied mobs.

The provocation for the violence was a rumour that a mosque had been razed in the Jayanagar area by the city corporation's demolition squad. There has been a spate of demolition of unauthorised structures in the city by the corporation authorities under its administrator Ravindra. Actually, what was being pulled down was the compound wall of a Muslim prayer ground whose ownership is yet to be settled. The wall, which jutted into public property and hampered movement in the busy Jayanagar bus terminus, was being pulled down in a sort of barter deal (between the two Muslim groups fighting over it) for permission to sink a bore well in the maiden for people coming for prayers and funeral service. It was purely a private matter.

But the demolition in which the corporation authorities were never involved was misinterpreted as the demolition of the mosque itself! In no time, mobs were on the rampage, looting and burning. They were well-armed. The small police contingent of the local area was besieged, and constable Satyanarayana murdered. It was evening time. Hundreds of officegoers and workers who were returning home after a weary day were attacked. Among those killed was a middleaged bus passenger, who died of pure fright when the attackers stoned the bus.

For a mosque that was not destroyed, hundreds were on the streets to loot, burn and kill! It is not as if it was all a sudden spurt of emotional outburst. Hatred must have been brewing. Who fanned it?

Many politicians are unhappy at the zeal of the corporation administrator to pull down unauthorized structures. Bangalore Mayor Padmavathy Gangadhara Gowda had openly attacked him. His demolition spree, the mayor alleged, will only help the builders.

Earlier, the mayor had stayed the administrator when he ordered the demolition of an unauthorised temple extension in the same area. The extension was erected on top of a drain. On June 16, the demolition was partly carried out. This led to mob violence, looting and arson. However, this was confined to the Jayanagar shopping complex. No one was attacked.

There has been overwhelming support to the administrator's zeal to pull down illegal structures, and increasing pressure for his removal by vested interests. In fact, Ravindra was shifted unceremoniously some time ago after he pulled down illegal structures in certain prestigious areas. He was brought back only recently.

Besides the alarming signs of an insidious communal design, Wednesday's violence also points to an attempt to create a scare about demolitions.

Karnataka Home Minister Roshan Baig's track record has not been very bright. He was responsible for Ravindra's removal when he was in charge of urban development. Baig is reported to be unwilling to give a free hand to the police. One director general of police was shunted out because he would not call on the minister at his home and take orders.

In the present case too, police officers have bitterly complained about 'lack of guts' among the top brass in dealing with the situation. However, despite the constraints, the police did a commendable job but for which many lives would have been lost.

More than a decade ago, hundreds of Muslims laid siege to a newspaper office when it published a short story which had some references to Prophet Mohammad. The mob was armed with lethal weapons. They were led by a man who is now India's Civil Aviation Minister Chand Mahal Ibrahim. But they never attacked people or burnt public property.

The Jayanagar violence, on the other hand, smacks of a sinister design. The state home minister comes under a shade, especially in view of the allegation that he instigated the attack on a local newspaper office a few weeks ago to pamper narrow communal interests.

Life in the Muslim ghettoes of Bangalore is sub-human. And that is what gives grist to the politicians's mill.

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