Radicalism patronised by politicians and religious leaders of both Hindus and Muslims is one of the major causes of the communal clashes in Bengaluru, S.K. Shesha Chandrika, a political analyst and author of several books on contemporary electoral politics in India, told Sputnik.
“Among social groups, Hindu radicalism (mostly politically patronised) is growing to serious proportions of late. But fortunately they are not organised. Instigation by Muslim leaders is another reason for successive communal violence in Bengaluru”, rued Shesha Chandrika.
Arsonists on Tuesday night set around two dozen vehicles on fire and surrounded the house of Srinivas Murthy, a legislator belonging to India’s main opposition Congress Party, to protest against an offensive social media post by his nephew. They also clashed with police, injuring dozens of them. Police have arrested an accused person, Naveen, confirmed Kamal Pant, commissioner of Police, Bengaluru city.
Shesha Chandrika explained that the social life of Bengaluru presents a picture of a “combination and contradiction of extreme rich and extreme poor”. The social asymmetry has grown constantly, with poorer sections of the society “despondent, half-fed, unemployed and disappointed”. Their youth will always be ready to exploit any situation, he added.
“The educated Muslims and Hindu youth, and business class are fully cultured, educated and harmonised”, said the veteran journalist of more than five decades. On the other hand, Hindu spiritual leaders have not tried to influence the community to maintain religious harmony, he lamented.
On 5 September 2017, an independent journalist, Gauri Lankesh, was shot dead at her house allegedly by radical activists angered by her secularist criticism of the right-wing and Hindu nationalists.
Bengaluru, the capital of the southern state of Karnataka, is known as the "Silicon Valley" of India, contributing about 40 percent of the country's software exports.