Operating on auto-motion, almost like clockwork, Hindutva groups in Karnataka are once again, warning of a protest if vendors belonging to Muslim community are allowed to carry out their business during the historic temple fair at the Siddheshwar Temple of Vijayapura, Karnataka. This unconstitutional and illegal demand for banning the presence of Muslim vendors from the temple fair has been raised by far-right Hindutva groups almost every year, particularly since 2022.
As per a report of the Observer Post, in the early hours of December 20, Hindutva groups including Sri Rama Sene assembled outside the Siddheshwar Temple and raised calls for disallowing Muslims from putting up their stalls at the upcoming religious fair. The groups also stated that they will be submitting a memorandum to Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal regarding the issue.
The temple fair, organised every year on Makar Sankranti (January 14) for centuries, is attended by devotees majorly from North Karnataka and Maharashtra. In a bid to show visibility and majoritarian aggression, syncretic traditions around this observance are being made into a bone of contention. According to the report, Hindutva extremists have claimed that since Muslim vendors are not allowed to conduct business at Hindu temple premises and fairs in many parts of the state, the same norm should be followed during Siddeshwara Sankramana fair. These Hindutva groups also accused the Muslim community of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus by indulging in activities such as “cow slaughter, beef consumption, Love Jihad, etc”, the observer post report provided. Justifying their economic boycott call against Muslims during the fair for these above cited reasons, the fringe elements also threatened to stage a protest in case their demand for banning Muslim vendors is not met with.
Persistent demands for economic boycott of Muslims during fairs- religious intolerance?
Over the past few years, under the governance of the BJP party, that was ousted from power in May 2023, the otherwise tolerant state of Karnataka saw the Muslim community being targeted by the Hindutva fringe elements on multiple occasions.
The calls for social and economic boycott of Muslims and the ban on Muslim vendors participating in temple fairs in Karnataka started at the height of the hijab controversy in the state. When the said ban on women wearing hijab in schools and colleges, imposed by a Government resolution, was upheld by the Karnataka High Court in the year 2022, the emboldened Hindutva groups stated emphasising on the exclusion of non-Hindus from engaging in any business within temple premises. This resulted in many shrines banning Muslim vendors from temple premises and temple fairs at the behest of Sangh parivar groups.
This year, in 2023, such instances of “demanding a ban of Muslim vendors during Hindu festivals” was not a lone, isolated incident. At the beginning of the 2023, banners put up by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal at the Kadri Sri Manjunatha temple fair that prohibited Muslims from conducting business activity near the temple were removed by the Mangaluru police. According to a report of the Hindustan Times, the police provided that only traders who believed in the rituals and ceremonies of the Hindu religion would be allowed to continue with their trade and business.
In the month of February, Hindustan Times also reported that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal submitted a memorandum to the Tumakuru district collector YS Patil demanding him to not to allow shopkeepers from “other religions” at the fair to be held at Gubbi Channabasaveshwara temple from February 25 to March 19, 2023. In their petition, the two Hindutva groups had warned of protests if traders from other religions were allowed to carry out business directly or indirectly on the premises of the temple or within 100-meter surrounding.
In April, reports emerged that Muslim traders would, for the second time, be barred from putting up stalls at the Bappanadu temple fair in Mulky in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. As per the report of the News Minute, the decision to exclude Muslim traders was taken by the temple committee after a memorandum by local residents called for the exclusion of Muslims. It is crucial to emphasise here that the Bappanadu fair not only attracted Hindus but also Muslim and Christian devotees
Again, in the month of August 2023, communal fires burnt high with the Karnataka Rajya Hindu Jaatra Vyaparasthara Sangha urging the government to not allow non-Hindus (Muslims) to set up shops during fairs or annual festivals of temples under the Endowment Department. As reported by the Deccan Herald, Sangha President Mahesh Das had stated that as under section 31 (12) of Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act no property including land, building or site situated near the temple should be leased to non-Hindus.
In the beginning of December 2023, Muslim Mirror reported that Muslims traders were allegedly debarred from installing their business units at a temple fair in Mangaluru city of Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka. The report provided that during the stall allotment of the “Shahsthi Mahotsava” religious fair, scheduled between December 14 and 19 at the premises of the Kudupu Sri Anantha Padmanabha temple, Muslim traders approaching for stalls were reportedly denied permission. the report provided that even last year, Muslim traders were not allowed to set up their stalls.
Some positive instances of resisting the politics of boycott
In October of this year, the Mangaluru city police had booked Dakshina Kannada district Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) joint secretary Sharan Pumpwell after he and his followers planted saffron flags calling for a boycott of Muslim traders during festivals in Hindu temples in Karnataka. As per a report of Indian Express, Mangaluru city police commissioner Anupam Agarwal had also provided that a case had been registered against Pumpwell and others under Section 153 (a) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Mangaluru South Police Station.
Commissioner Agarwal had provided that the saffron flags were planted by Pumpwell on the stalls owned by Hindus with the aim of ensuring that the ones owned by non-Hindus can be identified beforehand. Pumpwell had also made a statement urging Hindus to purchase their items of necessity only from shops owned and run by members of the Hindu community.
On October 15, a traders’ association in coastal Karnataka urged district authorities to allow Muslim vendors to participate in temple fairs during the upcoming festive season of Dasara. The said appeal was made by Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Districts Religious Fair Businessmen’s Coordination Committee, which includes members from various religious backgrounds, against the ban of Muslim traders from fairs and temples. The contention raised by committee convener B.K. Imthiyaz, as per the report of the Wire, was the Muslim community was not even seeking permission to run stalls inside temple premises but on the public roads that come under the city civic body.
Symbols of syncretism no more- banning diversity in a secular state?
The flawed reasoning behind the ban forms the state law, namely Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Rules, which was established in the year 2002. The Rules are being used to justify the prohibition of non-Hindus from engaging in any business within temple premises and leasing property near temples even when Rule 31(12) of the law specifies that it is related to immovable property located near a temple and does not apply to licences that shopkeepers get to run temporary stalls at fairs.
The list of bans from temple fairs and temple compounds imposed on Muslims vendors is not exhaustive, these are just the ones that were reported by media. As reported by News Minute, in the year 2022, the boycott campaign of the Hindutva group led to Muslims being excluded from 60 temple fairs in coastal Karnataka, as provided by Mohammed Arif, the secretary of the Udupi district street vendors’ association. The traders’ association, representing various communities, have time and against expressed concerns over the significant losses suffered by Muslim vendors due to last year’s bans on their participation in temple fairs. A report of the News Minute also provided that in cases were the Muslim traders did not abide by the bans imposed, the Hindutva group members would evict them from the fairs. The exclusion of Muslim traders had become a common pattern in temple fairs in the state of Karnataka under the governance of the BJP Party, and is yet to be fully sorted by the current ruling party of Congress. However, some instances people standing up against this aggressive campaign and urging for inclusion of Muslims in temple fairs are now also coming forth.
It is now to be seen how the Congress government will deal with the threats of the Hindutva groups in regards to the exclusion of Muslim vendors from the temple fair at the Siddheshwar Temple.
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