Tempers are up in Karnataka, what with commmunal riots in Mangalore and inter-religious tensions on the rise in Chikmagalur. As for the Kumaraswamy government, it means more crises to douse.

Stumbling from one controversy to another, the Janata Dal (Secular)-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance is being tested to the maximum by its disparate constituencies. If the Sangh Parivar sections are pulling the government in the Hindutva direction, the JD (S) followers among whom are a sizeable section of Muslims are dragging it the secular way. Caught in the tug-of-war, the government stands frozen, unable to intervene effectively.

The Mangalore riots, for instance. Though there have been riots elsewhere in the district, Mangalore city had been free of communal violence all these years. An industrial, entrepreneurial-rich region, Mangalore after the state capital Bangalore, is probably among the most accomplished alongside Mysore.

Highly-literate and, among other things, one of the most sought-after tourist destinations in the state, Mangalore is a city that throbs with life and abuzz with activity where the aroma of fish and the smell of the sea impart that unique romantic touch. A mouth-watering cuisine rounds off the experience into something nearing unforgettable.

Accident

All it took was a run-of-the-mill road accident to mar the reputation and tear apart the city's ethos. A jeep was involved in a minor run-in with a truck carrying cattle for slaughter. One thing led to another. A scuffle resulted in a larger fracas. People from one community beat up another. Taking the cue, a mob went on a rampage targeting people from another religious denomination, and there it was, riots. But confined to one area.
From the time of the truck-jeep accident and the initial rioting, a few days elapsed before it turned into an all-encompassing communal clash across the city. The government neither anticipated it or, even if it had, showed no signs of doing anything to prevent the violence. The Minister in charge of the district K Nagaraja Shetty, who belongs to the BJP, has been accused of instigating the riots. He has denied it, instead targeting senior state minister M P Prakash of the JD (S) of instructing the district superintendent of police B Dayanand to hound the Sangh Parivar's camp followers.

The intra-alliance conflict resulted in a debilitating curfew being imposed on residents of Mangalore for four straight days, unprecedented in the state. The violence subsided but looks like it will take a while for the city to recover from it. People seem to have realised they cannot depend on cynical politicians to protect them. A "Sahodara Vedike" (Fraternity Forum) comprising Muslims, Hindus and Christians has been formed to pre-empt similar riots in the future.

One reason for riots flaring up in Mangalore was linked to another smouldering issue a few hundred kilometres away in Chikmagalur district where Sangh Parivar organisations have been demanding they be allowed to perform Hindu rituals in the Bababudangiri Sufi shrine. A court order has ruled that status quo must be maintained in the shrine and the Datta Peeta Jayanti cannot be allowed there.

The Congress and the Janata Dal-led governments in the past had ensured the compliance of the court order, But this year, with the BJP in power for the first time in the state, its Sangh Parivar constituents and the hawks in the party have organised a series of religious events in Chikmagalur aimed at culminating in the Datta Jayanthi in December.

Vulnerable

Though the government did not explicitly say 'no' to the events there, the Chikmagalur district authorities arrested the BJP state president D V Sadananda Gowda for defying prohibitory orders. Though Sadananda was freed soon after, his arrest was used as a ruse to settle scores in Mangalore, which was already in a vulnerable situation following the truck-jeep accident. A bandh called by a Sangh Parivar outfit, the Rama Sene (Rama's army) proved just the right ingredient for the start of riots.

Meanwhile, in Chikmagalur though the government staved off the "Sankeerthana Yatra" with the arrest of Sadananda, the Sangh Parivar organisations continue to ensure the situation is kept boiling by holding functions and rituals to garner maximum media coverage and possibly to attempt a final push into the Sufi shrine.

The Datta Jayanti atop the Bababudangiri shrine is planned for December, which leaves the government a little more than a month to sort out the issue to the satisfaction of its partner. Sections of the BJP are not particularly keen on going ahead with the Datta Jayanti at the cost of sacrificing the government. But an equal number of functionaries backed by the RSS are adamant on undertaking the Jayanti, come what may.

The JD (S) is aware that any lapse in Bababudangiri may cost it its electorate and a blow to its secular credentials. The BJP too knows its followers will be mighty upset if it did not push for the Datta Jayanti now that it is in power. Besides, most legislators of the ruling coalition do not want mid-term elections. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, his father H D Deve Gowda and the BJP's Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, all of whom favour remaining in office, are in an unenviable situation. The choice is stark: communal harmony at the expense of power or power at the expense of communal harmony.