BJP dumps Hindutva Taliban Pub attacker

It is election time in India and with parliamentary polls only days away, parties and groups are clutching at all straws. Whoever can bring in a seat or even a few votes is welcome. The BJP’s Hubli unit in north Karnataka was so desperate that it welcomed Pramod Muttalik of the 2009 Mangalore pub attack ‘fame’ to boost its Hindutva vote. State party chief Pralhad Joshi and former chief minister Jagdish Shettar ceremoniously inducted him into the party. They thought that Muttalik, the self-styled Ram Sene leader, ex-Bajrang Dal firebrand and protector of Hindu culture, would be good a catch. But the party’s central leadership, which wants to improve its image among Christians and other minorities besides general public, was quick to control the damage he could do to the party’s image. Manohar Parrikar, chief minister of Goa where the party is wooing lot of Christian voters was one of the first to ask the central leadership to throw out Muttalik clearly seen as a negative asset. Parrikar’s advice , tendered at Nagpur the party’s nerve centre, was immediately accepted by the central leadership. Muttalik was ejected from the party within five hours of his induction. Muttalik and his gang of molesters, who roamed the streets of Mangalore in the 2009 incident and beat up girls having a drink in a local pub on a Saturday evening, have the gumption to call themselves Sri Ram Sene , all in the name of Ram! Far from Ram’s sena they belong to Ravana’s sena for attacking defenceless girls. Far from being protectors of Indian culture, they are the enemies of Indian culture or any culture. They are the ‘Hindutva’ Taliban , disgracing the name of Hindu or any other culture or religion. Muttalik and his band, who hate pubs and Valentine Day celebrations in the name of their culture , belong not just to a single community. There are Muttaliks in other communities too. Shutting their eyes to things, places or traditions outside their own narrow vision, they refuse to understand what a place like pub means. It is a public house, as its name implies, where locals -- young and old, men and women -- get together for a chat or a laugh after a day’s work or during lunch break. It’s not a sin bin or a whore house as some of the mullahs, prohits, pandits and holier-than-thou politicians of the Taliban variety often shout from the top of their topis (hats). The nexus between the politicians and their ground forces under the banner of religious senas or jamats is all too naked, however much they might try to hide under their holy garbs. The BJP has done itself a piece of good service by ejecting Muttalik; other communities and political cliques who have their own Muttaliks, should also clean up their act and save themselves from such mindless extremists. ...........................................................................................................