Homestay attack linked to BJP's political fortunes?

Mangalore, July 30: Political observers see a link between the attack by a Hindu vigilante group on young men and women partying in a house at Padil here on Saturday and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) political fortunes, and the very premise of the existence of the Sangh Parivar.

Associate professor in the Department of Political Science, Mangalore University, Rajaram Tolpady said the incident did not come as a surprise to him, considering the aggressive Hindutva indoctrination in the last 10 to 15 years in the coastal region, a BJP stronghold.

Mr. Tolpady said the result of this had been finding expression in different ways — attacks on churches and women, and raking up issues of religious conversion, cow slaughter and so on.

Describing it as “aggressive politics”, Mr. Tolpady said basically BJP was no different from other political parties when it came to supporting policies favouring globalisation. The only way for the party to show it was different was by projecting itself as a protector of “Hindu culture”. On the other hand, the Sangh Parivar needed to project itself as such for its very social existence, he said.

It was important for the BJP and the Sangh Parivar to assert and propagate the idea that Hindutva was in danger. “They have to whip up Hindutva feelings time and again” to divert people's attention from real issues such as development, unemployment and poverty.

Systemic support

Chairman of the university's Political Science Department Jayaraj Amin said activists of Hindutva outfits were confident that the system would come to their rescue with the BJP being in power.

Men from the lower strata of society were being used by various Hindutva outfits for spreading an ideology which was based on a perception of “culture being disturbed by men and women going to pubs”.

The BJP would reap electoral benefits only if they keep up the “frenzy” till the elections. It was a fact that the BJP wants to expand its base in the coastal region, he added.

He pointed out that the Hindutva brigade was silent when the administration itself organised a “rave” at St. Mary's Island in Udupi district.

Writer Sara Aboobacker said with the police failing to take adequate action thanks to political intervention, the cadres were so emboldened that they declared after the 2009 pub attack that they would do it again.