M’lru: Activists submit memorandum to city's top cop against growing number of moral policing cases
Mangaluru: Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development and the Karwane e Mohabbat Team on Monday submitted a memorandum to the city’s Commissioner of Police against the growing incidents of politically and communally motivated vigilantism and moral policing in the city and the district. Vidya Dinker and Shabeer Ahamed submitted memorandum on behalf of two NGO’s.
“In the name of preventing ‘Love Jihad’ and cattle trafficking, innocent citizens are being targeted by enforcer-goons belonging to politically motivated strong-arm outfits. What we see is a worrying daily replay of provocative statements, public shaming, incessant harassment, brutal violence, and infringement of legitimate rights of citizens. Such incidents are reported in the media, shared on social media, lead to tense situations and bring back the climate of fear that had our region in its grip in the not so distant past” the memorandum stated.
It also added that both the state government and the police department have acknowledged the fact that the district is communally sensitive and that it had been reeling under the negative impact of communalism for decades.
“There is a long history of brutal vigilantism and (im)moral policing in this region, particularly targeted at the minority communities and those who don’t conform to the purported code of conduct imagined by anti-social outfits. As a result of continuous efforts on the part of right-thinking citizens and a few district administrators and police officials, we had been able to enjoy a short phase of relative peace in the region. A resurgence of the bad old trend is unacceptable and must be curbed” the memorandum added.
“We must point out that we have brought to the notice of your predecessors time and again that the Hon’ble Supreme Court guidelines must be put in place to bring vigilantism and lynching under control. Refer to our letter of July 6th, 2019 on the matter, several follow up visits in person, your response dated September 12th, 2019, and our detailed reply of November 4th, 2019 (attached) seeking clarity on specific measures taken by your department to implement the Tehseen Poonawala Guidelines set out and concerted preventive action to ensure no instances of lynching, mob violence or cow vigilantism take place here. To this last, we have not had a written response till date, nor any indication of implementation of the Hon’ble Court’s guidelines” it further added.
“However, irrespective of the directions issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and through the Circular dated 03/09/2018 issued by the Director-General and Inspector General of Police, Karnataka, individuals and leaders of political parties and other outfits have not been deterred from openly advocating violence against minorities from public platforms on the pretext of cow protection. For example, on 29/06/2019, in response to an incident of cow vigilantism, a prominent political leader in the district called for cow vigilantes groups to deal with cow thieves with swords. He said (translated into English), “The stand of the police department in these cases has become questionable. They are saving the cow thieves and are harassing people who tried to stop the cow thieves. We are ready to lay down our lives for the sake of cows and for the sake of Hindutva... If the police cannot take appropriate action against them then we are ready to handle the issue. We know how to deal with these cow thieves. We know how to reply [to] them with their own swords which they use for stealing the cows”. No action has been taken against him for his statements. Speeches such as these that have been made aplenty in the past in the Dakshina Kannada region, encourage violent acts of vigilantism, not only against minorities but also against policemen. We are once again hearing more such provocative hate speech in the district” it noted.
“We now earnestly urge all the institutions of governance like the District Administration and the Police Department to take serious note of this current resurgence and come up with an immediate and effective response to curb the anti-social forces, establish rule of law and restore the civil rights of the people. Any delay and negligence on the part of the administration will only result in matters getting out of hand yet again. We hope you realize the gravity of the situation and immediately take positive steps to implement the Court's detailed directions in a sincere manner. We also seek that immediate steps be taken for identification of the groups orchestrating this lawlessness and those involved in perpetrating these incidents of (im)moral and/or communal policing, vigilantism, violence and communal hate crimes, including hate speech” the memorandum concluded.
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Sena (UBT)-MNS alliance announcement for civic polls likely next week
Mumbai (PTI): The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are likely to announce next week their alliance for the upcoming municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra, with seat-sharing for all the civic bodies, except Mumbai, almost complete, leaders of both the parties said.
Elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the all-important Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will be held on January 15, and the counting of votes will take place the next day.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the MNS will forge an alliance for the polls in municipal corporations of Mumbai, Thane, Mira-Bhayandar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune and Nashik, among others.
The Sena (UBT) is headed by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, while his once-estranged cousin Raj is the president of the MNS.
"Talks for all civic bodies, except Mumbai, are complete. The sticking point is about the seats that we are demanding in Marathi-dominated areas. The Shiv Sena (UBT) is not still not agreeing to it which has delayed the seat-sharing. But the talks have to be over soon since the date of filing nominations starts next week (December 23 to December 30)," an MNS leader said.
Talking to reporters, MNS leader and former MLA Nitin Sardesai said, "It is appropriate to say that the talks are in final stages but it is difficult to say when it will be officially announced. I can only say that all sides are putting efforts to complete the talks and they are working towards it."
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Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab met Raj Thackeray to discuss seat-sharing.
A Sena (UBT) leader said talks are in final stages and there is no hurdle in the seat-sharing agreement.
"The two brothers are expected to officially announce the alliance between the two parties on Monday in a public event or through a press conference that will set the tone for the civic body polls," he said.
Raj Thackeray quit the undivided Shiv Sena blaming Uddhav for his exit in 2005 and floated the MNS in 2006. They had been political rivals since then.
However, after the drubbing of their parties in the Maharashtra assembly polls in 2024 - the Sena (UBT) won 20 seats, while MNS drew a blank - both leaders decided to put behind their political acrimony and find a common ground for survival.
Over the past few months, the two cousins shared the stage or were spotted at public forums together multiple times for various reasons.
The cousins publicly ended their two-decade-long estrangement in July, where they addressed a joint rally. At the event, Uddhav said they have come together to stay together.
