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Showing posts from January, 2009

The moral parody in my half-hometown

Being a half-Mangalorean, I am aghast at the incident. Mangalore used to be a calm and cosmopolitan place. In the last few years it has become a communal hot-spot. This transition has been engineered by political parties working hand in glove with their non-party partners. The clothes people wore, their social events and the religion they follow were never an issue in Mangalore. It was a peaceful town, and now, it's ruined. In the desperate lurch for votes and attention, the right wing extremists of India have launched an offensive on the very Idea of a secular and progressive India. This disease is pan-Indian and its effects are frightening and long-lasting. Whether it's the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra disrupting Valentine's Day or the 'Ram' Sena in Mangalore, the strategy remains blatantly effective and simple. Choose obvious and vulnerable targets, out-number them, use violence and then turn on the 'religious Hindu sentiment' garb. However, in the pursuit of