With four universities, 17 engineering colleges, five medical colleges and 16 paramedical colleges, Mangalore is an educational hub , drawing youth from all over the country, coming in search of an appropriate climate of learning. They bring with them their own vibrancy to the city, which flourishes under their patronage.
Locals who want to see an even more vibrant and developing Mangalore, now, however, fear the worst as although the region has been communally sensitive for decades, the “moral policing” by some saffron outfits in recent years is threatening to mar “brand Mangalore.” With the moral police brigade swinging into action at regular intervals and manhandling young girls and boys at parties and in pubs, their fears are only growing.
Unwilling to be cowed down by such threatening behaviour, the people have now taken to the streets, holding protest rallies and walkathons, organising public discussions and signing petitions to make it clear that Mangaloreans will no longer tolerate a handful of goons taking control of their city.
Describing the latest attack on young women at a party as the saddest day of his life, Nitte Education Trust president, N. Vinay Hegde, says its time to put a full stop to such incidents.
“People protest such attacks for a few days and then forget about them until the next one takes place six months later. This is not the way it should be. We need to make sure that such attacks are never allowed in our city again ,” he stresses. Social activist, Vidhya Dinkar, who is also part of an independent fact finding team, feels that speedy trials in such cases are important to bring the guilty to book.
“Nobody has been convicted so far even for the 2009 pub attack. There has to be speedy trial to convict the accused in such cases so that others are stopped from following in their footsteps,” she says, claiming there are many more moral policing incidents that go unreported in the district. Meanwhile, with the vigilante groups making it their business to target parties and pubs, Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project CEO Yathish Bykampadi has come up with the idea of organising a huge cultural event on Panambur beach as a mark of protest.
Its time, he says, for politicians to decide whether they are with the people or with the goons attacking them. “Politicians need to decide whether they are with the voters of Mangalore or with such criminals. I have brought a party to power, but now with such incidents taking place repeatedly in the city, I will have to do a rethink when voting next time,” he declares.