Hanuma Jayanti (Hanuman Jayanti) celebrations, which was a symbol of communal harmony and peace for the past few decades in Hunsur town—some 25km from Mysuru—turned into a flash point between the state government and the BJP in Hunsur on Sunday after the police detained BJP MP Pratap Simha "to prevent trouble" and lathi-charged devotees.
A day after the face-off, schools and colleges remain shut and prohibitory orders have been clamped down in the town. The BJP has also called for a state-wide protest and Hunsur bandh.
On Sunday, chaos broke out after the police stopped the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu, who was on his way to Hunsur, to attend the celebrations. The district administration "feared" that if he was allowed to attend the event, the MP would violate the route restrictions imposed by them on the procession.
It is learnt the district administration had chalked out different routes for Eid Milad procession and the proposed Hanuma Jayanti procession to "avert" possible clashes. When the police tried to detain Simha, he demanded to know what his crime was and asked them if they had orders for stopping him. As the MP took to the wheels, his car brushed against a barricade, allegedly causing minor injuries to some police personnel. The MP's arrest and the police resorting to lathi-charge at the venue resulted in a volatile situation.
The police, who threatened to file criminal case against the MP for "rash driving on public roads", eventually decided against it. Instead the MP was taken around the district in a police vehicle till late in the night. Around 10.30 pm, the police seemed to have dropped all charges and gave a station bail at T. Narsipura.
Earlier, Simha had tweeted saying "Mysuru district administration n @SPmysuru is all set to file a criminal case against me in Bilikere Station for pushing the barricade near KR Nagar junction!".
Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde, who reached Hunsur for the celebrations, was furious at the "highhandedness" of the police in arresting Simha and dubbed it as "Hitler culture" of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and alleged it was the state government's ploy to detain Simha to stall Hanuman Jayanti utsava.
The BJP supporters demanded to know why the Hanuma Jayanti celebration was obstructed while Eid Milad procession had no such hurdles. What has irked the devotees and the BJP is the district administration shifting out Lord Hanuman's idol from the venue overnight, without allowing the celebrations to take place.
Even as Hegde called for Hunsur bandh on Monday, BJP state president B.S. Yeddyurappa, who is leading the parivarthana rally in Vijayapura, hit back at the government, accusing it of creating fear and tension by arresting an elected representative. The BJP leader reiterated that the party would launch state-wide protest to oppose the arrest and stalling of the festivities.
Siddaramaiah, who was closely watching the developments in his home turf blamed Simha for driving over a barricade. "Are BJP leaders the only people who celebrate Hanuman Jayanthi and Ram Navami? Law and order is our responsibility," he added.
"My car did not climb the barricade. You may examine the footage. Why is the government stalling the celebrations and hurting the religious sentiments of people? Protecting my religion and tradition is much more important and above my political future," clarified Simha.
In a poll-bound state, the Congress government denying permission or imposing restrictions over the opposition BJP's religious celebrations and protest rallies is resulting in frequent disturbances and further polarisation of people.
After banning the BJP's bike rally to protest the killing of RSS/BJP workers in BC Road a few months back, and imposing restrictions during the launch of parivarthana rally last month, the state government is indulging in curbing the celebration of Hindu festivities too. This smacks of minority appeasement, alleged BJP leaders.
Reacting to the incident, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said, “We had no objection. But when we gave permission to the BJP, we had give route map for the procession. But Simha was deviating from the proposed route.”
“Law is same for all, even for an MP. I suspect BJP leaders Pratap Simha, Yeddyurappa and Hegde have no knowledge of the law,” he added.
In a counter-protest, the Congress workers staged an agitation against the “rouge” behaviour of the MP.
