Nirbhaya Thank you

Rise of Gangs of Mangalore

Silence is an opiate in troubled times

Mangalore, a city once known for its seafood, beaches, and historical sites has witnessed an unprecedented dip in in its image over the past few years. And that is mostly due to the emergence of a hardcore sexually repressed woman-hating ‘All Boys Band’, collectively called as the ‘The Gangs of Our Mangalore’ ( ‘Namma Kudla’ in Tulu).

It comprises mainly of three mentally deranged politically motivated gangs ( The Red-hot-Cow dung worshiping-Anti Nationalistic ‘The Bajrang Dal, The misogynistic-Rama chronic-murder gang-The Rama Sene and the latest introduction The sexually repressed-women hating Sadists-The Hindu Jana Jagarana Vedike). They have six main items in their agenda: 

a)      To uphold the superior rights of Man over Woman .
b)      To preserve the modesty and culture of women by imposing strict white-low waist-silk sarees .
c)       Increase the sale of chicken by banning the sale of beef.
d)      To intrude on the privacy of couples in streets, malls and beaches and interrogate about their relationship.
e)      To develop a long-time friendship and diplomacy with the ‘Cops of Our Mangalore’
f)       And decorate the entire city of Mangalore in saffron color.

They have already Talibanised the entire Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, thanks to the obedience and acceptance by a large portion of the cowardly and spineless population of these two highly educated and deeply unintellectual districts. The ‘Gangs of Our Mangalore’ as they are called by their heartthrob fans of DK and Udupi, who have voted in outrage for these gangs to come to power in successive elections.

The Gangs of Our Mangalore have brought out their own rules and regulations in these regions as prescribed according to scriptural truths revealed to the elders of the Sangh Parivar. From its lofty Himalayan origins, these commandments were ministered to the Tulu populace by defenders of the faith like Pramod Muthalik, who have gained in influence  after the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) came to power in Karnataka in 2008.

Now, the problem is that, the ‘Gangs of Our Mangalore’ are using the codes of VHP to justify their criminal activities and in some cases amending the codes to suit their horrendous acts. They roam around with impunity,  clad in saffron fatigues ( from the forehead ribbon, to the waist shawl and even their underwears) and spot some innocent couples or girls and interrogate them. They dictate terms to the common public on almost everything on what to eat, wear, drink, where to go and also on how to think!

Next time, whenever I  want to have my favorite beer at a bar in Mangalore, they say that I need to take permission from the great crusaders of immorality, inhumanity and ill-manneredness,  the respected gang of “ Hindu Maha Jana Gana Mana Jagrana Vedike”!!! A fair translation of the gang’s name true to its practices would be “The Ordinary League of Illiterate, Intolerant, Aimless, Frustrated, Sexually repressed and Woman-Hating Sadists of Hindutva”

Now if that’s the case, my friends ask me what will I do? (Because they know that, I cannot easily forego my favorite beer).  I have already come across such an embarrassing incident in a hotel in Mangalore, where they were serving beef ( The ‘Gangs of Our Mangalore’s favorite dish’ ) and I  had ordered it, but wasn’t served due to interruption by the Gangs, who raided the Hotel, after having it.  I thought, that’s it, we will never have beef anymore in Mangalore. But well, that was wishful thinking, we get it even now and the same restaurant serves it, without restriction. Later, I learned from a Kannada journalist, that this was all a political gimmick, to woo traditional Hindu sentiments and cultivate vote banks. Later, the beef-sellers lobbied the ‘The Gangs of Our Mangalore’, the great preservers of immorality, inhumanity and ill-manneredness, with hefty cash and thus there is an end to the chapter.

In February 2009, The ‘Gangs of Our Mangalore’ hit the charts, after their much criticized and lauded vandalism on churches and shrines in Mangalore City. This time and for the time, girls were the target. Some onlookers reported that girls were just passing by an unknown pub and the ‘The Gangs of Our Mangalore’ couldn’t control their hurt sentiments, they screamed ‘How dare you girls pass by a pub that is meant only for us’! , and chased down and beat them up. And there are other reports, that say the ‘Gangs of Our Mangalore’ were actually on their way to the pub and were denied access by the bouncers for not paying the entry fee. And, therefore, unable to bear the insult, barged inside the pub and found few girls having juice, and started beating them in outrage.

Well, as you know, in Mangalore, no one dares to confront the ‘the Gangs of Our Mangalore’. The much overrated Cops of ‘Our Mangalore ‘arrived late, as usual and were on the way to arrest the girls for having juice in a pub! But then the girls had fled and the ‘Cops’ invited their eternal allies, The Team members of ‘Gangs of Our Mangalore’ to the Station. The ‘Gangs of Our Mangalore’’ threatened the ‘Cops of Our Mangalore’’, that it would end their long-lived  friendship, if there was a case booked against them. The cops struck a deal, they accommodated them for a couple of weeks in jail, served them with lavish food, and more and released them on bail. On their way home, they were greeted like heroes by their mothers. Aunts, uncles,  grannies and neighbors, mostly women, who hailed them and blessed them with kunkum and aarathi. As one Journalist, asked one of the assailants, a young boy of about 18 or 19, whether he would carry out this act once again? he responded without hesitation’ Yes, Indeed, I will do it’, in order to protect the culture laid down by ‘Kamananda Swami’ ( Horny Yogi ) and membership of ‘Gangs of Our Mangalore’ I will do it. 

Almost three and a half years later, after a long period of absence, due to constraints of funds from the political party the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) , the ‘Gangs of Our Mangalore’ are finally back with a bang.

This time, it was at a small birthday party (with few pints of beer) arranged by few teenage college students at a private place. The ‘Gangs of Our Mangalore’ wanted to gain the lost momentum; somehow, they barged into a private party, found few girls and boys and thrashed them, for no reason.  they were offended that they weren’t invited to the party. To them, it was a violation of item (a) in their six-point agenda above, which they interpret in this case as “Boys can drink and make merry, but girls do not have the same privilege.” and also item (b) which to them reads “Dress modestly with White silky low waist Saree-the True Indian Cultural woman”.

They slapped, dragged and sexually abused the girls, who were pleading them to let go. There were two cameramen, with high quality digital videography and around twenty odd weird looking men of ‘Gangs of  Our Mangalore’, they were the new recruits, from the City Bus-Stand Saffron-Club. Of course, even this time the ‘Cops of Our Mangalore’’  were duly present at the scene, like the supporting crew in a B grade Kannada movie, as if they were informed about the raid in advance!  They were initially assisting their boys, ‘the Gangs of Namma Kudla’; later. when other media crew arrived, they smoothly tried to mend the situation, by politely asking the assailants to go home and take rest, after a hectic midnight duty.

At a time where leaders need to show solidarity with the innocent girls and boys, the mayor of Mangalore City, a woman, came out with a preposterous statement, saying that such ‘Culture’ by the girls has no place in our society and the Resort owners should be punished ( What she meant was, that boys and girls, shouldn’t be allowed to celebrate birthdays!)

The Gangs of Our Mangalore are no monsters or militants with heavy artillery that we all need to be afraid off. They are the sons of household Mangaloreans, who haven’t seen a class room chalkboard or even written on a slate. They cannot read a text message and are unable to operate the computer, let alone internet. They live their lives lavishly and comfortably by the bread earned by their Beedi-worker mother and a working sister. They are no good for any effective job, they are unable to read newspapers, and their knowledge about the world is by means of hearsay. You cannot debate with them, it is of no use, you loathe them calling them ‘hooligans’ or ‘morons’, they won’t understand. You yell at them in Kannada, they will reply in Tulu, and that is the only language they understand and speak to a certain extent.

Fascism takes birth in such environment. The Fascists dip and bubble on such turbulent waters, and use such individuals to fulfill their potential ambitions. It is a ‘Cake walk’ to brain wash them. Fascist first target minorities (Ethnic, Religious, Linguistic), once they are done with that, they go after women. Fascism usually prevails in closed-rigid- traditional-conservative societies, and an interesting fact about such societies is that they are ‘Male Dominated’. And the height of Male Chauvinism is displayed when, woman is liberated. They cannot resist women’s sexuality; they attack her liberty and freedom. They will try to oppress her and impose codes of modesty upon her like some kind of weird clothing or covering. And it purges like that, and the results we can find in Pakistan, Iran, Saudi and Afganistan.

The situation in Mangalore is almost the same. The Hindutva groups recruited and trained thousands of Sadist, aimless, illiterate street wanderers, paid them heavily and used them to spread distorted facts about culture, identity and religion. The Fascists were able to polarize the entire Dakhshina Kannada and Udupi, helping them to win electoral points. Now, they are politically crumbled, they no longer have effective leaders and hence on the brink of disaster. The goons they recruited and trained few years ago, are gone out of control.

 ‘Silence is the greatest evil in troubled times’. The only remedial measure is speaking out. All college students and boys and girls have to come out in open protest and mass demonstration. The assailant’s need to be punished severely and the justice has to be upheld. Remember, these are the only the beginnings, and more of such things is due. It is a threat to Woman’s Liberty and we shall stand and defend it.

Carrying the torch of Solidarity

India' grieving hour

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan came out in a statement a few days back that Delhi Gang rape culprits should be hanged.  But it would be better, if he would have added same punishment for crimes such as ‘poaching Black Bucks’ and ‘ running down car on pavement sleepers’. It is not uncommon habit among our utopian B-Town superstars and contaminated politicians to spit out un-remarkable statements during crisis hours, just to mount their image and expand their fan base.

Leaving Salman Khan’s abhorrent stink behind and moving on to the substance of this essay. Last week has been one of the grieving moments for the entire nation.  A Twenty three  year old girl and her male friend were savagely beaten and the female victim was gang raped by four men in the evening hours in the busy streets of India’s Capital. As the victim of this horrifying crime battles for life, the nation’s youth have barged into the streets holding placards and candlelight’s seeking death penalty for the culprits. The woman of this country is feeling threatened and petrified in these days, like never before. The patience is finally running out among the youth, as atrocities on women have become routine in the country for the last two years.

In a Country where Mythical Gods are worshipped and glorified, the real living women are mistreated, abused and harassed everyday in open public. The hypocrisy lies within the hearts and mind of the society that watches such cruelty and remains silent.

Did we react Late?

Earlier in July at a resort in Mangalore, When Boys and girls were brutally attacked at their homes, while celebrating a private party, the incident hardly made headlines in the country.  There was protest among some sections, but it never amplified to the national level. A large number of Dakshina Kannada’s population didn’t bother to take part. This is precisely because of society of southern pockets of Karnataka, which is highly polarized and self-indulgent. Going by the Video footages, the girls were horrendously beaten, dragged and sexually assaulted by a gang of twenty odd drunken men. It makes one wonder, why this particular case of mass sexual assault on women didn’t pour the same outrage, the one in Delhi resulted in.

It is in human behavior to react in outburst, when something of high scale takes place. India’s dishonourable capital city, New Delhi accounts 35% of total rape cases in the country and over 25% of other crimes like human trafficking, murder, extortion, kidnapping etc. Making it the most dangerous city for women in the country.  Upsettingly, barely within 24 hours after the heinous gang rape incident, two other girls were raped in the city.  That tells the whole story on how disastrous this city has turned into.  Since, the beginning of this year alone, there have been increased assaults on women in Delhi, but all of the cases have simmered without a trace, because the youth of Delhi didn’t have the time and courage to stand up and raise their voices. And at last, they had to wait for such distressing event, which could never happen, if there was earlier outcry.

It is not the question, on what kind of punishment do the criminals of this heinous crime deserve, a Question which the entire nation is madly debating.  The Social network, blog world and SMS is buzz with examples emanating out from theocratic inhuman states like Saudi, Iran and Afghanistan. Some have posted images of torture, amputation, beheading, hanging and public flogging as the best punishment for rapists. But hello, wait a minute you Bigot. Have you seen the way women in those countries have been punished? They receive the same punishment, as the one you posted, for eloping, conversing to males and going to school (Malala Youzafzazi).

We won’t allow such barbaric practices here. The Country that as civilized and sane as ours, should be thinking critically about the prospects of Women. There is an urgent need to strengthen the security of women and to bring in a strict code of law against assaults on women.  Many experts  point that, the problem lies in the mind of a man, from a earlier age due to the social background and lack of education his attitude towards opposite sex remains immature. Our country needs massive rehabilitation and education programs with earnest, that can possibly eradicate such wretchedly crimes. After  last week’s tragic incident and those that have been following since last few years in metro-towns, both men and women have been increasingly insecure, Resulting in breakdown of pluralism and open societal norms that had always existed in our country. The youth that has paraded into the streets in disgust and emotions should convey just three magical words to the women of this country ‘ Do not Fear’.

Time to rise and show solidarity

It is in human nature to express personal connection to a tragic episode with solidarity. Soon after the 26/11 Bombay terror attack, a large portion of nation’s Muslim population went out in streets demonstrating and condemning terrorism and demanded war with Pakistan. It was a remarkable gesture displayed by the country’s largest and most fruitful minority. This was also followed by a very low profile and less pompous’ Eid’ celebrations, in order to commemorate the victims of the attack and stand by the grieving nation.

This time it’s the middle class population’s term to display such gesture and curtsy to the Delhi assault victim.  It is certainly not a time for usual celebrations this time, as the entire nation is up in arms demanding justice. The spark has spiraled into flames, and there is no better time than now, to carry the torch of solidarity along with the nation.  A less joyful newyear would be more substantive at this hour. Mass, Carols, Cakes, Joy and Merry will follow only when women and children