Sri Rama Sene has no office in Mangalore

The vigilante group doesn't care about enrolment either: anyone who joins the mob is a member

Sri Rama Sene has no office in Mangalore

The vigilante group doesn't care about enrolment either: anyone who joins the mob is a member

Sri Rama Sene may have caught the attention of the world media after its members attacked a pub in Mangalore, but the group has no office in that coastal city.

"That's right. We have no office," confirmed Vasant Bhavani, who describes himself as the Sene spokesman in Bangalore.

Yet, the Sene claims staggering numbers.

Arun Kumar Puthila, the Sene's south province convenor, told MiD DAY, "We have about 50,000 men in our south province." He lives in Mangalore and is proud to admit he was a part of the mob that attacked the lounge bar Amnesia on January 24.

Sri Rama Sene has divided Karnataka into two provinces: north and south. Its members are not organised into rank and file, perhaps explaining how they can so easily run amok, and then get away. "Whoever joins us in our cause is a member," Puthila said.

Puthila says he is a farmer, but his men are employed in other trades. "We have jeep drivers, for instance," he said.

Spy network

That amorphous network comes together and works like a spy ring when an attack has to be planned.

In the case of Shruti, who was kidnapped because she was talking to a Muslim boy, fingers are being pointed at the bus driver, who her MLA-father feels passed on information to her assailants. (The BJP government in Karnataka is blaming the CPM for the kidnap).

Similarly, the vandals had been tipped off about the visitors to Amnesia. Given the namelessness of Sene members, police are often handicapped when it comes to identifying the guilty.

Job struggle

A perceptive social observer believes the anti-Muslim sentiment gaining ground in Mangalore could have something to do with job envy among the Sene's 'members'.

"Muslims rarely own land, and are mostly engaged in small trades," he said. "They are in direct competition with the Billavas, Mogaveeras, and to a smaller extent, the Bunts."

The Billavas are toddy-tappers, but they cannot follow their traditional occupation as the government has banned the drink. Mogaveeras are fishermen, and are losing out to competition from mechanised trawlers. Muslims meanwhile are migrating from farm labour to small trades.

Taliban sway

Sara Aboobaker, Kannada writer famous for portraying the lives of the Beary Muslims of the region, believes competitive religiosity now defines the coastal district of Dakshina Kannada.

She recently spoke to The New Indian Express about "Hindu Talibanisation and Muslim Talibanisation", and was concerned that Muslim men were going around forcing girls to wear burqas.

However, when MiD DAY called and sought her views this week, she said she would rather not talk about the pub attack.

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