In Mandya district, green turns saffron Premium

Nagamangala communal violence: Once the hotbed of farmers’ and Dalit movements, the Vokkaliga caste-dominated Mandya district in southern Karnataka is beginning to see the impact of a consistent Hindutva push.

Yusuf Khan looked distraught as he recalled the night of September 11. Khan, who is in his 30s, said that he and his brother had flung themselves across the entrance of Sadhana Textiles to prevent more than 100 masked men from causing damage. “But the mob simply shoved us aside. They removed petrol from my two-wheeler parked outside to set the shop on fire. We tried to douse the flames using water from our house and the overhead tank, but the fire raged on,” he said.

The apparel shop was located on the ground floor and Khan’s family lived on the second floor of the building, located in Nagamangala town in the political hotbed of Mandya district in southern Karnataka. Khan’s family owns the building.

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The violence broke out during the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. A procession was on its way to immerse the idol of Ganesh and deviated from the scheduled path “by a bit”, said the police. The procession allegedly went close to the Ya Allah Masjid in Nagamangala, halted, blasted music, shouted slogans, and burst firecrackers. This led to a confrontation and violence, they added.

The mob allegedly attacked over 20 business enterprises that night. The government, which is looking to compensate losses suffered by these establishments, has listed Khan’s tenant for compensation. But the damage to the building and his family is still to be estimated, Khan said.

“My tenants [who are Hindu] are upset and our family is staring at a bleak future,” Khan said, while his brothers moved household items to a temporary home a few metres away on the narrow lane off the Nagamangala-Bellur Highway.

Since then, political leaders have kept the embers alive by constantly trading charges. Janata Dal (Secular) leader and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy, who represents Mandya in the Lok Sabha, claimed that petrol bombs had been used in the violence. The Leader of the Opposition, R. Ashok, and Union Minister Shobha Karendlaje, who belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleged that the Popular Front of India, which was proscribed by the Indian government in 2022, was involved in the violence. They demanded a probe by the National Investigation Agency.