Police removes banner asking Muslims not to do business near temple in Mangaluru
According to police, the banners were put up by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal on Thursday, following which they were removed on the same day. The temple fair started on January 15 and will end on January 21.
Mangaluru police have removed banners at the Kadri Sri Manjunatha temple fair that prohibited Muslims from conducting business activity near the temple, officials said on Friday.
According to police, the banners were put up by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal on Thursday, following which they were removed on the same day. The temple fair started on January 15 and will end on January 21.
Police said the banners mentioned the cooker bomb blast in Mangaluru last year and alleged that the primary target of the accused in the case was the Kadri Manjunatha temple, police said.
The banner also said people with such a mindset and those who opposed idol worship can’t engage in trade and business during the fair near the place of worship, police said.
The banners also stated that only traders who believed in the rituals and ceremonies of the Hindu religion would be allowed to continue with their trade and business, police said.
The temple administration, which falls under the religious endowment department, did not approve of the banner that was put up in the vicinity of the temple fair and informed the police.
A senior police officer said that since the temple administration came under the religious endowment department and they informed the police, the banners were taken down.
“We have taken down the banners to avoid any law-and-order issue, but since there is no police complaint, we have not lodged any FIR in the matter,” said a senior officer.
Since an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in an autorickshaw rocked Karnataka on November 19, 2022, the state police beefed up the security at Kadri temple, which was rumoured to be the target.
The explosion was reported in an auto-rickshaw in Mangaluru, injuring the driver, Purshottam Pujari, and the passenger, Mohammed Shariq (24), also the prime accused in the case.
Additional security was provided at the temple after the temple authorities’ approached the police. Kadri temple executive officer P Jayamma said the police protection request was made after social media posts started doing rounds indicating Kadri temple was the target.
Since March last year, campaigns targeting Muslim businesses have been underway in Karnataka. What started with the eviction of Muslim traders from temple premises has snowballed into demands for boycotting halal meat, purchase of gold from Muslim establishments, taking cabs driven by Muslims and even a call not to purchase mangos from the minority community.
In the first incident, last March banners came up around at least eight temples in Karnataka banning Muslim traders during the temple festivals. Banners have emerged outside temples in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Shivamooga districts announcing the ban, and one of them, in Dakshina Kannada district, read: “No permission for those who are against Constitution and those who kill cattle.”