Karnataka - Mangalore   

Police start process to resolve Hindu, Muslim animosity

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE, APRIL 4. The Mangalore Police, in association with the district administration, have started a process of consultation with Hindu and Muslim organisations to find solve the existing animosity between the two communities. The main dispute between the communities is over illegal transportation of cattle, especially cows to slaughterhouse.

While there have been clashes between members of the two communities over the issue for some time now, the situation has assumed a different hue since the Moodabettu incident in Udupi, where members of minority community were stripped and assaulted, and the move by the district administration here to relocate the cow shelter at Urwa. The focus of the parleys is to diffuse tension because of the latest developments.

Taking the lead is H.N. Sathyanarayana Rao, Inspector-General of Police (Western Range). Mr. Rao, who in his earlier stint in Bangalore managed to diffuse tension between the communities there, is trying to do the same here. His effort has received support from leaders of the two communities.

Mr. Rao met a delegation comprising representatives of Hindu organisations, led by the Mangalore MLA, N. Yogish Bhat, as part of the process to reduce tension between the two communities. The MLA and the Chairman of Karnataka State Minorities Commission, K.S. Mohammad Masood, recently announced a joint initiative to resolve differences between the two communities.

Mr. Rao told The Hindu here that the meetings were aimed at understanding the exact nature of grievances that the communities had against each other, the role of his department and the steps that could be taken to resolve them. He said the district administration and the police authorities too would come out with their suggestions to the issues raised by the two sides.

Recalling the experience he had in dealing with a similar situation in Bangalore, Mr. Rao said there he had the help of Rainbow Forum, which had done groundwork to resolve the differences between the two communities, making the job of the police easy. Here the police are trying to ensure law and order on their own, he noted.

Several rounds of such meetings are expected in the coming days. Mr. Rao said a few vexatious issues had been allowed to grow and if the authorities had nipped them in the bud, tension could have been averted. He was, however, confident that the two sides could be brought around to see reason.

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