Mangalore: Ullal clash victims narrate ordeal to Swamijis

Mohan Kuthar
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Feb 13: "Attempts to ride over Hindu religion or its leaders will not be tolerated. If justice is not done to Ullal clash victims, Hindu religious heads will go on a fast," warned Sri Vishweshatirtha Swamiji of Pejawar Math.

He was speaking during 'Sanyasigala Nade Santrasatara Kade' programme organized at Ullal here on Thursday February 13, wherein Hindu religious heads interacted with victims of the recent clashes at Mogaveerapatna in Ullal at Sri Vyaghra Chamundeshwari Temple and later visited houses.

"I will give a detailed report to the chief minister and the governor on the untoward incidents that took place in Ullal. I will urge them to provide compensation to victims, repair boats that were damaged by miscreants, release innocents from jail, and withdraw attempt-to-murder charges registered against juveniles," he said.

"Hindus have never done injustice to other people of other religions. Such a thought should not even be entertained by Hindus. No one should provoke anybody, but when there is injustice happening we should not remain passive. Do not be afraid of anything. We are all with you," he added.

"The home minister during his visit to Mangalore had said that my visit to Ullal is politically motivated. That's a joke. It is the duty of Hindu religious heads to visit the houses of victims belonging to their community. The Swamijis have a responsibility towards society, but they have a bigger responsibiltiy towards the Hindu society, and it is due to this reason that this programme has been organized," the Swamiji said.

During interation with the Swamiji, woman named Dhanyavati gave an account of the incident that sparked the clashes. Amid sobs, she said, "At around 1.45 am, a man with long hair came int the guise of a girl, accompanied by a man wearing a coat and both of them started knocking at the door of a house. Thinking that men who were out fishing had returned home, when the door was opened, they brandished swords, pulled out a boy and thrashed him. We need protection with such miscreants living amidst us. Though we wanted to request the local MLA to provide us security during his visit to Ullal, we could not, as he visited only one part of the town and left without speaking to us."

Another woman called Tara alleged police atrocity and narrated amid tears, "The men in the house never involved with any trouble. On the day of the incident too, they were in the sea fishing. When my husband was asleep in the house, police barged in and took him away along with my sister's husband and my son who is in high school. There is nobody to protect the family now. How can we live when the people who protect us are taken away? Please help us."

A person named Damodar said, "Our house which is in Kodi was stoned during the riots in 1990-91. During last week's clashes, a group of around 200 people pelted stones at our house. One of the stones hit my mother on hte chest and she was rushed to hospital by her sister with the help of the police in their jeep. Only I remained at home. However, despite pleading with the police to protect me and telling them that those who threw stones had taken refuge in a nearby mosque, the police took no action to arrest them. The police were biased in their handling of the situation."

Sri Vajradehi Swamiji of Gurpur Math lashed out at the state government and said, "If the state government does not give appropriate attention to the solve the issue, we will resort to Satyagraha fast under the leadership of Pejwar Swamiji. We will launch a protest against the government and its ministers that treat the Hindu community as minorty for vote bank."

Sri Ramananda Swamiji of Kolya Math, Sri Gurudevananda Swamiji of Odiyoor Math, Sri Yogananda Saraswati Swamiji of Kondevoor, Karinje Sri Muktananda Swamiji, Sri Kalahastendra Saraswati Swamij, Om Sri Guruji of Thokkottu, K S Nityananda Swamiji of Chikmagalur, Sri Rudramahaswamiji of Gurpur Jangama Math, Sri Vidyaprasannatirtha Swamiji of Shree Subramanya Math and others took part.

Ullal Mogaveera Sangha president Sadananda Bangera, Babu Bangera, Shree Bhagavati Kshetra president Chandrahas Ullal and others were present.

After the programme, the Swamiji visited houses of 11 victims of clashes in Mogaveerapatna and consoled them.