'Business of Non-Hindus Not Allowed': Cops Say No Grounds for Action After Posters in Mangaluru Town

A few weeks after Hindu groups put up posters in Varanasi warning non-Hindus not to approach the Ganga’s ghats, similar banners, allegedly put up by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its youth wing, the Bajrang Dal, sprouted up along the road near the grounds of Ullal Bail temple in Dakshina Kannada district, about 13 kilometres from Mangaluru, according to a report.

“Only those who worship the gods of this land are allowed to trade here,” said a banner at a temple fair in Karnataka last week, the Print reported

They attempted to prevent non-Hindus from setting up shop during a two-day festival that started January 26.

While the banners were removed within hours by local police, no complaints or action have been taken, unlike in the Varanasi case, where FIRs were filed, and police are unsure whether this will result in legal action, the report said.

N Shashikumar, Mangaluru commissioner of police, told the Print that as soon as the police learned about the incident, the posters were removed by personnel. “Neither the temple authorities nor private citizens have filed a complaint in this regard, and no action has been initiated in the absence of a complaint,” he said. The fair continued without incident after the posters were removed, the report.

VHP members, on the other hand, claimed to have achieved their goal.

Raghu Sakleshpura, convener of the Bajrang Dal, was quoted in the report as saying that “Muslims who come there desecrate the temple fair, eve-teasing and misbehave with women.”

“They’ve been setting up shop for years, but this time, after our banners were hoisted, only Hindus set up shop. Even though the police took down the banners, we were able to get our message across,” he said. According to reports, the VHP and the Bajrang Dal were also behind the posters in Varanasi.

The banners also urged Hindus to shop only at shops run by their fellow religions, which were marked with saffron flags, as seen in videos, said the report.

Mangaluru MLA and deputy leader of the Congress legislative party in the state assembly, UT Khader, said this was not the first time such discriminatory and communally charged posters had appeared, but doing so at a temple fair should not be allowed.

When discussing the difficulties of taking legal action, a senior police officer from the Dakshina Kannada district stated that putting up such posters was not an offence.

“Had it been discriminatory against SC/STs, there are sections under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for social discrimination. Police may charge them under IPC Section 505B (public mischief) in this case, but only as a supplementary charge of abetment if the banner caused any untoward incident,” according to the officer, the report mentions.

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