The trouble began when the carcass of a pig was thrown in a mosque in Mysore. This angered the Muslims who came out on the streets to protest the act. Tempers soared in Udayagiri as groups of Hindus and Muslims had a violent confrontation.
The police fired at the protesters and lobbed tear gas shells. In the subsequent rioting, three persons were killed. The dead include a teenager, Junaid Khan, a youth Mubarak and a labourer Tirupathi.
The city is situated nearly 145 km from Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. Mysore, a historic town, was once seat of the brave Indian king Tippu Sultan who had battled the British forces and kept them at bay until he was defeated in the fourth war.
The state has seen a sudden rise in communal incidents in the last decade. Attacks on Churches were widely reported from the state last year. Another major town of the state, Mangalore, has also seen a sharp polarisation on communal lines.
The growth of fundamentalist outfits like Sri Ram Sene and the off-shoots of RSS and BJP is termed as responsible for the polarisation in this South Indian state. However, the other three South Indian states are seen as relatively free from communal tensions compared to Karnataka.
TIH Bureau
