Author: K.R. Vadiraja
Publication: Organiser
Date: January 24, 2005
URL: http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=61&page=19
Introduction: The shrine is kept
open for Muslims throughout the year, whereas the government permits only
three days (during Datta Jayanti) for Hindus to offer pooja.
A socio-religious hot spot in Karnataka
is immersed in the quagmire of controversies and is projected to manifest
as a communal cauldron. Located in Bababudangiri Hills (also known as Chandradrona
Parvat), Chikmagalur district of south Karnataka, the shrine is centripetal
to thousands of devotees cutting across religious lines. The place has
become a potential source of struggle led by the VHP and the Bajrang Dal
against persistent Islamisation, which is in vogue since 1976. The successive
governments in the state have been supportive of the clandestine policy
directed towards suppression of the majority interests in that area.
At this juncture, a detailed description
of historical events is imminent. Some people claim that the shrine is
a dargah (grave) of a Sufi saint, Bababudan Mir Hayat Kalandar (the Chandradrona
Parvat is renamed after the Sufi saint), who is also addressed as Datta.
Muslims and secularists opine that the Sufi dargah has been a common place
of worship for centuries.The Hindus consider the place as a seat on which
Dattatreya (a three-headed incarnation of Lord Vishnu) had performed penance
and therefore became a significant place of worship.
During Hyder Ali's time, the administration
of Datta Peetha was handed over to the Shakhadris, a family which was regarded
as pontiffs/managers of the shrine. The Shakhadris appointed a suitable
person to oversee and assist the daily poojas and urs conducted by the
devotees. This system continued under the rule of Mysore state and by the
government of Karnataka. But, in 1976, the shrine was transferred from
the Mujrai Department to the Wakf Board. The Shakhadris appointed a mujawar
(Muslim priest) and the Muslim localites gave vent to absolute Islamisation
of the shrine by burying the dead belonging to their community.The newly
appointed mujawar added salt to the wounds of the Hindus by denying adequate
opportunities for them to offer their pooja at the place. At times they
were also prohibited from entering the shrine. The blatant act was perpetuated,
notwithstanding the Chikmagalur District Court, Karnataka High Court and
orders of Commissioner, Charitable Endowments to maintain the pre-1976
status quo.
These developments led to serious
discontent among the Hindus in the surrounding areas. The struggle was
initiated in the form of petitions, small protests, house-to-house mobilisations
and mass demonstrations in and around Chikmagalur district. The government's
indifference and the Muslim intransigence culminated in VHP's intervention
in 1992. The Bajrang Dal's active participation in 1996 elevated the issue
to a statewide agitation. From 1998 onwards, a concrete movement to restore
the Hindu element in the shrine was initiated in the form of a Shobha yatra,
which is taken out in the streets of the district. Since then, for a period
of six years, from 1998-2003, Datta Maala, Datta Jayanti, Shobha yatra,
yagnas, recital of Vedic hymns, etc. have attracted the ire, not of the
local Muslims who are reticent in their response, but of the secularists.
The secularists have taken up cudgels against the ongoing so-called saffronisation,
but they were the ones who kept quiet when the shrine was subjected to
Islamification for 22 years, between 1976-1998. To name some-Girish Karnad
(Jnanpith award-winner as playwright), Arundathi Nag (theatre personality),
G.K. Govinda Rao, Gauri Lankesh, etc. Under their aegis, the Komu Sauhardha
Vedike (Communal Harmony Forum) came into existence to combat saffronisation
in Karnataka. Other arrows in this intellectual quiver include the DYFI,
the CPI and its affiliates including some jobless NGOs. Their paramount
aim is to confront and halt Brahminical rituals and restore the pre-1998
status quo. There are two more Peethas in the precincts of that area in
which rituals, as stipulated in the Vedic texts, are observed.
By doing so, the secularists are
tacitly accepting the Islamisation. This is nothing but observance of sheer
double standards, majority bashing and minority pampering-an attitude which
even the present government seems to toe. The preceding government under
S.M. Krishna had consented to the holding of Datta Jayanti and Shobha yatra.
The current dispensation is backtracking on the established practice. The
celebrations for 2004 were banned. Repressive measures were enforced resulting
in incarceration of various leaders who were in the vanguard of the festivities.
To name some, they are C.T. Ravi (Chikmagalur MLA), Sunil Kumar (Bajrang
Dal convener), B.S. Yediyurappa (Opposition leader in Karnataka) and Jagadish
Shettar (BJP president, Karnataka). The attitude of the district administration
has earned the wrath and anguish of thousands of devotees who boycotted
the government-sponsored festivities.
The claim of Hindu organisations
is not to exercise absolute control over the shrine; it is to perform pooja
in a manner guided by the conscience of the devotees and not dictated by
the mujawar. Also, a demand for drawing a clear demarcation between the
Peetha and the dargah is on the cards. The local people have also humbly
requested the state government to appoint a Hindu priest in condomonium
with the mujawar.
The shrine is kept open for Muslims
throughout the year, whereas the government permits only three days (during
Datta Jayanti) for Hindus to offer pooja. In order to terminate this flagrant
discrimination, the Bajrang Dal has avowed to conduct a pooja every full-moon
day at the shrine.
The determination of pious Hindus
led by like-minded organisations to confront the malicious propoganda unleashed
by pseudo-secular glitterati through various publications, dailies and
weeklies, both English and vernacular (Kannada) newspapers, has paid rich
dividends. This is evident from the fact that not less than 40,000 people
have agreed to uphold a genuine cause. A Satya sandesh yatra, to propagate
truth and counter the misinformation campaign of the perverted intellectual
jaggernauts, is in the offing.
(The author can be contacted at
No. 56, 4 Cross, KSRTC Layout, J.P. Nagar, Phase-II, Bangalore-560 078.)
