Shivamogga has always been fertile ground to stoke communal strife

Vigilance up as undercurrent of tension still prevails in central Karnataka city

The murder of Bajrang Dal worker Harsha has put the spotlight back on the central Karnataka city, which has a history of communal violence of 74 years.

People from both communities (Hindus and Muslims) have lost their lives in violent incidents.

Shiva Murthy (24), an active member of a Hindu outfit, was killed in violence that broke out during the Lord Ganesha idol immersion procession taken out by the Hindu Mahasabha in 1948.

In fact, the circle near Nehru stadium has been named after Shivamurthy. It is popularly known as the SM circle.

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Veteran BJP leader and former MLC R K Siddaramanna told DH that it was common for communal tension to flare up in the city during religious processions.

Shiva Murthy was killed near the mosque at Gandhi Bazaar in 1948, Siddaramanna said.

The playing of drums and other instruments by troupes near the mosque during the procession had sparked off a clash between groups of the two communities.

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Such incidents were reported in 1983 during the Hindu Samaj Utsav, a religious procession in 2005, police firing in 2010 after a violent protest that surfaced over the publication of an article by controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen in Kannada daily.

The city was peaceful over the last seven years. The last major communal violence was reported in 2015, after the killing of RSS worker Vishwanath Shetty on the day Popular Front of India activists took out a procession in the city.

Victims from both sides

Youths of both communities lost their lives in such incidents.

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Muslim Muttahida Mahaz president Parvez Ahmed said politicians must stop making provocative statements that instigate youths of both communities to resort to violence.

“I have also appealed to Muslim youths not to post offensive or provocative messages on social media sites under any circumstance. We have to live together in society. Communal hatred must end, for a peaceful life,” he said.

Speaking to DH, a veteran journalist from Shivamogga, Arun, said some anti-social elements use such occasions to push their agenda. People of both communities have lost their lives. Some innocents too died in violent incidents that were reported over the last seven decades, he said.

Appeal for peace

He asked people to give up hatred and accept unity. Political leaders must not make provocative statements when communal violence breaks out anywhere in the country, Arun said.

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