The manner in which some activists of the Hindu hardliner group called the Sri Rama Sene barged into a pub in Mangalore recently and thrashed revellers, including girls, is highly reprehensible. The self-appointed moral police chased many girls in the pub, and mercilessly beat and molested them. Strangely, the activists have justified their criminal anion, claiming that they had received complaints from the people that the pub users had been violating traditional Indian norms.
Clearly, the Sene activists have no right to interfere into the freedom and independence of young boys and girls. The B J P government headed by BS Yeddyurappa has responded to the outrage belatedly. About 27 activists were arrested after two days of the inciden t. Worse, Ram Sene chiefPramod Muthalik has been arrested not for the pub attack but for a different offence - creating communal disharmony in Davanagere on January 11.
How will these hooligans be punished if the government tries to protect them? The law and order in Karnataka has been vitiated ever since the BJP came to power. The saffron outfits appear to have no fear of the law. The government's delayed response to the Mangalore outrage is a shocking repeat of its earlier inaction when the Hindurva extremists torched Karnataka's churches and prayer halls a few months ago. Such incidents have been occurring with sickening regularity. Recently, the activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike stormed a private party on Bangalore's outskirts. Earlier, Karnataka Yuva Vedike activists went on the rampage at a leading hotel's pub in Bangalore.
Unfortunately, though pseudovigilante outfits are proliferating and acting with impunity in the BJP-ruled state, the government has been found reluctant to tackle them. The BJP can restore law and order only if it gets rid of the lumpen elements in the party and checks its outfits from taking the law into their own hands. It needs no new laws to deal with hooligans. The existing laws are enough to deal with them. What is needed is the will to crack down on some of the Parivar's elements who are out to disturb peace in the country on one pretext or another. The rule of law in Karnataka is under serious threat and the BJP government would do well to remember that it cannot afford to be seen on the side of the hoodlums even if they are motivated by the ideology of its liking.
Clearly, the Sene activists have no right to interfere into the freedom and independence of young boys and girls. The B J P government headed by BS Yeddyurappa has responded to the outrage belatedly. About 27 activists were arrested after two days of the inciden t. Worse, Ram Sene chiefPramod Muthalik has been arrested not for the pub attack but for a different offence - creating communal disharmony in Davanagere on January 11.
How will these hooligans be punished if the government tries to protect them? The law and order in Karnataka has been vitiated ever since the BJP came to power. The saffron outfits appear to have no fear of the law. The government's delayed response to the Mangalore outrage is a shocking repeat of its earlier inaction when the Hindurva extremists torched Karnataka's churches and prayer halls a few months ago. Such incidents have been occurring with sickening regularity. Recently, the activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike stormed a private party on Bangalore's outskirts. Earlier, Karnataka Yuva Vedike activists went on the rampage at a leading hotel's pub in Bangalore.
Unfortunately, though pseudovigilante outfits are proliferating and acting with impunity in the BJP-ruled state, the government has been found reluctant to tackle them. The BJP can restore law and order only if it gets rid of the lumpen elements in the party and checks its outfits from taking the law into their own hands. It needs no new laws to deal with hooligans. The existing laws are enough to deal with them. What is needed is the will to crack down on some of the Parivar's elements who are out to disturb peace in the country on one pretext or another. The rule of law in Karnataka is under serious threat and the BJP government would do well to remember that it cannot afford to be seen on the side of the hoodlums even if they are motivated by the ideology of its liking.
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