Karnataka at its worst phase, in news for wrong reasons

The recent riots in Shivamogga due to the pasting of posters of Savarkar and Tipu Sultan has created great tension. This has disturbed the communal harmony. Well this has nothing to do with the people in the posters because instead of Savarkar if Shivaji photo was put or instead of Tipu Sultan, Akbar's poster would have been pasted, the result would have been the same. The riots could have easily been prevented with timely intervention from the state. It is now necessary to put certain restrictions on pasting of any banners that can create such riots in any public place.

Shreshta (name changed), Office worker, Bengaluru

With another communal tension happening in Shivamogga over Savarkar photo, Karnataka is going through its worst period with many communal riots that is becoming a national news. All these incidents are actually spreading hatred among religions not just in Shivamogga but the entire state. Shivamogga was a very peaceful district. Many socialist leaders have come from this district fighting for equity justice and freedom. In the last two years, it has witnessed unprecedented violence and communal tension.

The government has failed to control the situation. I am familiar with the place from last 25 years. I also checked the data regarding communal incidents. After 2013, this is the second one. Shimoga is not listed under communal tension area. The political leaders and their followers need to understand that the message spread outside to the public from communal riots is only hatred.

Devendra S, Techie, Bengaluru

The Shivamogga communal situation is not something which had come up spontaneously. It has been engineered by mixture of communal elements of BJP, Sangh Parivar , SDPI and its arm PFI. We have known BJP and SDPI for their hand- in- glove approach for turning peaceful atmosphere into communal cauldrons. We have to arrest this trend by breaking nexus between communal parties which will be good for maintaining communal harmony. As a worker from Congress party I strongly feel that top level BJP leaders who are holding good posts in state level BJP should make this happen.

T R Suresh, District Congress party worker

I am aware that the communally explosive situations take birth and go out of control with in short period. This I have seen when the state government organised birthday celebration of Tipu Sultan and also when later many such incidents occurred . Not only in Kodagu , it was in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and now in Shimoga. The civic society is in a confusion which is dangerous for our progress. Kodavas being peaceful and progress loving community, we see this frequent communal flare ups as a threat to peace and harmony between two major communities.

Pressy Gowda, coffee grower, Somwarpet

Triumph of the majority

In a democracy the majority votes get more importance, naturally, emphasis was being laid on Hindu existence which gains political importance. Even in the Gandhian school of thought, Hindu ideology had worked in connecting the nation, but Hindutva was never a reason for politics, in that era the values, liberal ways of living and many other virtues were prominently portrayed. In the thoughts of Savarkar, there was no place for Hinduism as a religion, but it relied more on the importance to only Hindus, and Hindus being politically organised, Savarkar had connected the Hindus on a political ideology and not religious ideology. In the present day it has become a mainstay of the political powers to unite the Hindu society for political ends, whenever that outcome is threatened Savarkar or people of his line of thought will come alive or foisted by the political powers for meeting the political ends. To arrive at this scenario the political parties take routes of disparaging the Gandhian vision of values in the Hindu society.

MG Hegde, Social activist and thinker

Stage-managed stunt

The entire issue over the projectionof 'Veer' Savarkar that has been foisted by the BJP was nothing but an 'engineered' series of incidents. It has been done to polarise the votes of the Hindu majority for the elections of 2023 in favour of the BJP.

Prime Minister NarendraModi needs to answer this question - you came to power in 2014 and again in 2019 why your party did not give the same respect and image build up for Veer Savarkar, why he is not being projected as a freedom fighter on a national scale? It has not even been done in the Maharasthra-the state where Veer Savarkar was born. What other explanation than his name being used for electoral purposes could possibly be there? Why Veer Savarkar's name is coming into prominence only in the fourth year of the BJP government in Karnataka. When I analysed these things I concluded this was nothing but an election gimmick"

ArvindChokkadi, thinker and intellectual