Click to play videoMangalore: Activists of a self-styled pro-Hindu moral brigade called Sri Rama Sena barged into a pub in the coastal city of Mangalore on Saturday and beat up young girls and women for "violating traditional Indian norms".
Shocking pictures of women being assaulted and beaten up in the name of moral policing at a pub, Amnesia, were recorded by the media.
And the brain behind all this is this was the President of the Sri Ram Sena, Pramod Mutalik.
Sri Ram Sena is a small right-wing group which is now gaining prominence in Karnataka by indulging in such acts of terror.
And though the BJP state government has washed their hands of Mutalik and the RSS says that Mutalik's outfit is not part of theirs, Chief Minister B S Yedyurappa is now facing flak from all quarters following the attack.
Under pressure, he has promised that justice will be delivered.
"The government will take strict action against the culprits as per the law. The police have been given a free hand to handle the situation," he stated.
BJP President Rajnath Singh added, "As far as the BJP is concerned, it does not believe in violence."
Mangalore, a bustling cosmopolitan coastal town is fast emerging, as the "Laboratory of Karnataka". The epicentre of communally mobilised politics for long, the region has seen individual and institutional rights shrink rapidly under the BJP government of B S Yedyurappa.
The state police, which have been accused of being soft on these groups, have arrested 13 people so far but they have also put the blame on the media for such acts.
Karnataka DGP, R Sri Kumar says, "I would like to know from the media when they went to cover it, why did they not inform the police at once? Is the media also hand-in-glove with them?"
However, the truth is that even after 36 hours of the incident, Mutalik has not been touched by the police and the police have no answers.
Though the Sri Ram Sena 'justifies' the attack saying say they pepole in the pub were indulging in prostitution and drug peddling, the civic society in the state is horrified.
Social Commentator, Kripa Alwa says, "This was worst ever act of crime in this place of Mangalore, especially on adolescent and teenage girls, which means that the freedom of action is totally taken away from every citizen of Mangalore."
Adds Minister for Women and Child Development Welfare, Renuka Chowdhary, There is a sense frustration, how can the state government get away without taking an action.They shouldn't underestimate the women''s vote."
"We have enough legislation against moral policing but we need the civil society to react. We will do our best, I ask the media and civil society to come as partners," she added.
But the question that remains to be asked is what right do these foot soldiers of Pramod Mutalik have to beat up youngsters and what is the reason that the state government is silent on the issue.
(With inputs from DP Satish in New Delhi)
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