Only the might of people power helped snub culture policing

Only the might of people power helped snub culture policing
H S BALRAM


Remember 26/11, the day when terrorists struck at Mumbai? And its aftermath — the public outcry against political apathy and government lethargy, leading to the sacking of the Union home minister and the state chief minister? Two months later, 24/1 to be precise, Karnataka faced a similar situation. Self-styled culture cops calling themselves Rama Sene, spread terror, assaulted young women in a Mangalore pub, and then proceeded to threaten those who celebrated Valentine’s Day. It sparked an unprecedented uproar across the country.
The BJP government led by B S Yeddyurappa came under fire for not only dithering in punishing the culprits, but also supporting the Sene’s cause. Home minister Acharya faced brickbats for trying to muzzle the media. Pressure mounted — from the people, the opposition, the Centre and within the BJP ranks. Protests were held. Hate mails and pink chaddis were sent to Sene chief Pramod Mutalik.
The CM had no option but to act. He forced the Sene to retreat, gagged his home minister and shunted out Mangalore’s police chief.
Let’s look at the players of this ugly episode:
Pramod Mutalik: A non-entity till yesterday, he is a household name today, for all the wrong reasons. The BJP government’s initial reluctance to act against him and his men helped catapult this self-appointed custodian of Indian culture to the national scene.
Yeddyurappa’s support for his cause emboldened him to move to Bangalore after the Mangalore pub attack to spoil the Valentine’s Day party. But he didn’t expect backlash from the people. It forced him to retreat. He will certainly return and create chaos on another occasion, if the government doesn’t rein in organisations like the Ram Sene and the Bajrang Dal.
V S Acharya: Ever since he took over as home minister, he has been facing one problem after another. The agitation over fertilizer shortage in which a few few farmers died, serial bomb blasts that shook Bangalore, attack on churches by Bajrang Dal men, and now moral policing by Rama Sene men.
His response to each of these has been anything but proactive and sensitive. One still remembers the earful he got from the Archbishop of Bangalore for failing to contain the attack on churches. His recent move to bring in an ombudsman to monitor the media attracted a lot of flak, even from his ministerial colleagues. Acharya must change his style of functioning. The state needs a tough home minister.
Yeddyurappa: Expectations were high when he became CM — the BJP’s first in Karnataka and the South. When he said his main aim was development, he was applauded. He did start well. But somewhere along the way his calculations went wrong.
When fringe groups claiming support of the Sangh Parivar started flexing their muscles, he didn’t know how to handle them. He allowed things to drift. He tried to do a balancing act between the government and the parivar. That was his undoing. Had he acted tough and forced the Parivar to contain the fringe groups, he would have come out of each crisis unscathed. Only when matters came to a head did he act.
But by then the damage done was enormous. He must crack the whip and concentrate on development. Only then will he retain the goodwill of the people.
The other players: (a) The people who kept up a sustained campaign against moral policing; (b) The media which exposed the government’s apathy, (c) Renuka Chowdhury, Union minister for women & child welfare, who kept pressure on Yeddyurappa; (d) National Commission for Women which took its own member to task for doing a shabby job while probing the case; and (e) the police which worked with hands tied.
In the end, people power clicked. Hopefully, in the days to come we see more of such proactivity for the good of the state.
PARTING SHOT
Say it with a whip
The other day CM Yeddyurappa gave a piece of his mind to BBMP en gineers. He said: “Roads develop pot holes within days after they are laid or tarred. Buildings develop cracks Bridges collapse. Why do you need an engineering degree to do such a clum sy job?” Mr CM, what you say is noth ing new. We exasperated citizens have been saying this day in and day out You need to crack the whip. Only then will things move.