Continued from Here
On the fourth day, 12th November, we drove to Udupi at around 11:00. The final rites of Preethi’s grandmother was performed and after lunch we left back home. Dropped parents and sister at home, packed our bags and left at around 4 PM. Mangalore and Bantwal regions had announced a strike related to a murder in Bantwal. A Hindu killed by a muslim gang and the Muslim friend who tried to stop the attack was also injured. Such issues always successfully turn into communal riots in Mangalore. I realised that nothing has changed here since my college days. Every time I am in Mangalore, the present reminds me of a scary past. Several communal riots, scared Hindus living in Muslim dominated areas and scared muslims living in that of Hindu area; colleges, schools, offices all closed for several days; cops firing tear gas at the mob; petty personal issues dragged into public attention and blown up as a communal clash. Indeed, nothing has changed here. I feared delay in my journey but on the contrary, the curfew made it easier and quicker. There was nobody on the road. I cruised off at highest possible speed and reached Sakleshpura at around 6:30 PM.
As we reached Sakleshpura, we noticed some burnt tyres hinting further unrest. But somehow as sun goes down everyone seem to settle back into a normal mode. This unrest was not due to the same issue though, it was related to another killing in Madikeri over the Tipu issue that you perhaps have been following with me through these posts. Like my trip, Tipu story too needs a conclusion from my end, doesn't it?
I wondered what Tipu might be thinking now, from his grave, if at all he is. Is he happy that people are still scared of his name and fighting over it? Or should he be sad that people have defamed him? No matter what he thinks, none of that matters anyway, does it? No body knows for sure who he was or how he was. We all think that our current technology is the strongest to store the history but only time can tell if it really is. So with that lost time are lost, several facts. Then why bother about him? Why does the Government want to pick a controversial name and create unrest? If they had named a day after Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam (Another Muslim), nobody would have said a word. We all know who he was and we all acknowledge his contributions. But no, the controversial names are more fun for our Government a political agenda behind everything is interesting to stir some action. So why blame Tipu? Let him rest in peace.
Anyways, unfortunately for wrong reasons, I was glad about the whole thing that brought me back to Bangalore quicker than anticipated. I reached home by 10:00 PM with only one stop for dinner at a A2B outlet.
So I am back in Bangalore. No Hindu-Muslim clashes, no riots, no interfering, and all that is, is only the thought of present and perhaps a possible future. I love Mangalore but I do not agree with everything that happens there. Someday, when I return there for good, I hope things would have changed and the then present shall remind me of those scary past as a history to learn from. After all that is what History is for - To learn from. Thus let the truth about Tipu remain just a debate, let us not drag it to our present beyond what it is - A debate.
As we reached Sakleshpura, we noticed some burnt tyres hinting further unrest. But somehow as sun goes down everyone seem to settle back into a normal mode. This unrest was not due to the same issue though, it was related to another killing in Madikeri over the Tipu issue that you perhaps have been following with me through these posts. Like my trip, Tipu story too needs a conclusion from my end, doesn't it?
I wondered what Tipu might be thinking now, from his grave, if at all he is. Is he happy that people are still scared of his name and fighting over it? Or should he be sad that people have defamed him? No matter what he thinks, none of that matters anyway, does it? No body knows for sure who he was or how he was. We all think that our current technology is the strongest to store the history but only time can tell if it really is. So with that lost time are lost, several facts. Then why bother about him? Why does the Government want to pick a controversial name and create unrest? If they had named a day after Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam (Another Muslim), nobody would have said a word. We all know who he was and we all acknowledge his contributions. But no, the controversial names are more fun for our Government a political agenda behind everything is interesting to stir some action. So why blame Tipu? Let him rest in peace.
Anyways, unfortunately for wrong reasons, I was glad about the whole thing that brought me back to Bangalore quicker than anticipated. I reached home by 10:00 PM with only one stop for dinner at a A2B outlet.
So I am back in Bangalore. No Hindu-Muslim clashes, no riots, no interfering, and all that is, is only the thought of present and perhaps a possible future. I love Mangalore but I do not agree with everything that happens there. Someday, when I return there for good, I hope things would have changed and the then present shall remind me of those scary past as a history to learn from. After all that is what History is for - To learn from. Thus let the truth about Tipu remain just a debate, let us not drag it to our present beyond what it is - A debate.
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