A BRIEF LIST OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION & COMMUNAL INCIDENTS

IN KARNATAKA SINCE BJP GOVERMENT CAME TO POWER

June 10, 2008: Firing on farmers in Haveri

June 14, 2008: Padmapriya Karnataka legislator K. Raghupathi Bhat's wife killed

July 12, 2008: a group of men belonging to a hindu organisation place pig carcass at
mosques in JC Nagar, area of the Bangalore city triggering communal violence.

August 10, 2008: Karnataka Rakshana Vedike takes law into there hands attacks a group
of 35 people allegedly holding a 'rave party' at Manchanabele Dam.

August 14, 2008: State-owned Mahabaleshwara Temple in Gokarna transferred to

Ramachandrapur Math, known for its save-the-cow campaigns.

August 29, 2008: The Public Instruction Department issues notices to all Christian
institutions in the state to shut down to protest the violence against Christians in Orissa.
Notice precursor to statewide attacks on churches.

24 August, 2008: A bus was intercepted at a prominent junction in Mangalore; a Hindu

girl and her Muslim fiancée were dragged off the bus and assaulted.

8 August, 2008: Bajrang Dal activists stopped a bus in the city, and assaulted Syed,
Zulfikar and Ameen, because these young boys helped a few girls with their bags,

September 14, 2008: With Mangalore as the epicentre, Sangh parivar activists attack
Christian prayer halls and churches across the state. More churches attacked three days
later

MANGALORE/CHIKMAGALUR: After ten days of illegal detention the police have

released three persons they picked up for questioning from Kudregundi in Koppa taluk of
Chikmagalur district.

The three were taken in on October 9 for questioning in connection with the ongoing
investigation into suspected terrorist activities in the region. They were released late in
the evening on October 20 after a civil rights group threatened to file a habeas corpus
petition in the Karnataka High Court.

Until their release, nobody had a clue about their whereabouts.

Mohammed Yane Kunhimon (50) a scrap dealer and part-time civil works contractor,
Abu Bakr (55) and his son Badruddin (25), both construction labourers, had been
contracted to build a house by terror suspect Ahmed Bava, who is now in judicial
custody. The house was raided a few days after the October 3 arrest of Ahmed Bava. The
police claim to have recovered items such as a wooden bow, an automobile tool kit, a
carpenter’s tool kit and an electrical tool kit from the house.

Several attempts were made to speak to them in the days following their release, but to no
avail. The on the Finally, on Friday, Mr. Kunhimon and Mr. Badruddin spoke to Hindu
phone. They said that the police had treated them well.

However, Byatha N. Jagadeesh, an advocate working with the Bangalore-based

Alternative Law Forum said, “For a period of ten days human liberty was suspended in
favour of arbitrariness. The action of the police is not permitted by any law.”

He said the victims could claim compensation for the illegal treatment meted out to them.
However, generally “victims are only too happy to be left alone. The return to normalcy
and not a fight for justice is their main objective.” He pointed out that the habeas corpus
provision is rarely invoked by families of victims, either out of fear or because the police
have a tendency to give constant assurances that they will release the prisoners soon. A
few hours The met the family of the three before they were released on October 20,
Hindu men in Kudregundi. With their breadwinners in jail, the families were in a pathetic
state. It was already evening and Mr. Badruddin’s three children had eaten only a meagre
breakfast.

“I had kanhi (rice gruel),” said his daughter. When she was asked what she had for lunch
she looked toward her mother whose eyes welled up with tears.

Not allowed to work

Mr. Kunhimon’s nephew Moideen (25), who was the sole bread earner for his family in
the absence of his uncle, was capable of working but was not allowed to. A plumber by
profession, Mr. Moideen was barred from using his tools by the police. Pointing to a
rusted pile of screwdrivers, cutting-pliers and hinges, he said, “The police have asked me
not to touch them. Maybe they think that I might use them to make a bomb.”