Cry, my beloved Mangalore

-Maxwell Pereira

The first holocaust for Mangalore Catholics happened in 1784 at the behest of Tipu Sultan. Following his defeat by the British in the first battle of Mangalore, Tipu's wrath had turned on the local Christian community, in the belief that it was their aid and support to the British that cost him his battle.

In a ruthless swoop by his marauding armies 85,000 Christians were rudely uprooted from village homes, herded and marched off through arduous jungle terrains of the Western Ghats for incarceration in the dungeons of Seringapatam (Srirangapatnam). Rigours of the journey coupled with malaria and dysentery had decimated the numbers and not all captives reached the destination.

Release came in 1799 to about 15,000 of the motley bunch that had survived - only after the fall of Seringapatam and Tipu's death following the second battle of Mangalore. With release had come a sense of purpose, a common identity, for a people who had hitherto considered themselves migrant Goans. For the first time a distinct "Mangalorean" identity was born.

Over the years the close-knit and homogeneous small community of 1799 grew, diverging into fields and destinations anew. Leaving their native shores they spread far and wide pursuing new and rewarding careers elsewhere in India and all over the world. In India, other than that of a president or a prime minister, there is no seat of honour, profession, trade or virtue that has not been claimed, graced or enriched by a Mangalorean. This was possible because of the environment of amity and understanding that prevailed in the region.

This communal harmony, which was the hallmark of the region, was suddenly shattered on Sep 14 when the Bajrang Dal went on a rampage vandalising churches, assaulting Christians, and desecrating holy artefacts. Mangalore since then has gone through a period beset by challenges not faced in over 209 years of communal harmony.

The current lull in violence has resulted only due to unprecedented solidarity (perhaps totally unexpected by the perpetrators) and protests by the Christian communities of Mangalore, and the support they received from the right-minded in other local communities, leading to nationwide and worldwide condemnation of the heinous acts of the Sangh Parivar and particularly by the Bajrang Dal in Mangalore and elsewhere.

While social scientists and analysts will try to unravel the deep-rooted prejudices or political agenda that led to the shattering of the harmonious relationship between communities in the area, there needs to be some thought spared to checks and balances to be supplanted which will preclude such gratuitous violence between communities in future.

Mangalorean communities including Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Jains are a peaceful, law-abiding and religiously tolerant people, often of similar ancestry and traditional heritage. Against this background, there is a consensus that a small group of misguided elements cannot be allowed to orchestrate well organised and premeditated attacks on minorities.

The government justice system needs to look at the causes for the violence that occurred, identify those who instigated and the criminals who carried out the attacks. There is need also to examine the role of the police during the violence and in their provocative actions during peaceful protests.

What was sorely found missing was the presence and intervention by community peace committees - the need of which every efficient police organisation is acutely aware of and strives to ensure. So a standing nodal agency with representation from major religious communities, major political parties and the police - to ensure preventive measures through regular meetings to monitor simmering tensions and all that is a must.

From the outpourings of the anguished, voiced in the media, it is evident that the majority of Indians (particularly Hindus) do not believe in the Sangh Parivar's ideology, and yet are forced to go along with it as a necessary evil, partly for lack of an alternative party with strength to lead the country with a viable government. There has perhaps never been a time of greater need to join hands with people of goodwill among all faiths and even with people of no faith to make common cause on important issues.

The public today are subjected to propaganda spread by aggressors - about conversions and foreign funds. Despite categorical assurances that there cannot be forcible conversions to the Christian faith - and there exists not a single chargesheet or conviction under the highly hyped anti-conversion laws enacted in many states - the canards on this score continue. While no one in the government or the Sangh leadership explains why this lie cannot be nailed once and for all with a national debate, the ploy continues to be used as a plank for propaganda and more attacks.

There is need for the entire nation and its people to know what the Sangh Parivar is, what it stands for, its tactics, its strategy, its political policy. As there is need for the hitherto complacent Christian community to be involved more in the political arena - not just to understand and expose the political policy of the Sangh Parivar but to know and understand policies of other parties too - to identify those that hurt the interests of all in the sphere of human rights and constitutional rights that guarantee freedom to practice and preach one's religion. If people do not act on time, there is danger of the Sangh Parivar succeeding in abrogating these very rights, or writing rules to circumvent these.

It is evident that the Bajrang Dal has realised Mangalore Christians stand for their rights, and that support for them has come forth from every imaginable quarter. Going forward, there is need to focus less on reprisals and recrimination but more on ensuring sustainable peace in times to come and especially for future generations.

(Maxwell Pereira, a Mangalorean, is a former joint commissioner of Delhi Police. He can be reached at mfjpkamath@gmail.com)

India's Aravind Adiga wins Booker for debut novel

India's Aravind Adiga was the toast of the literary world Wednesday after he won the prestigious Man Booker Prize at a glittering ceremony in London for his debut novel "The White Tiger", set against the backdrop of India's growing wealth gap.

The 33-year-old former journalist, who defied odds and beat hot favourite Sebastian Barry, took home the 50,000-pound ($47,000) prize -- becoming the third debutant to win the award in its 40-year-history and the fifth Indian-origin author to win the prize.

His book - which judges felt "shocked and entertained in equal measure" - is the story of Balram Halwai, a village boy who becomes an entrepreneur through villainous means.

Adiga's novel, aimed to highlight the needs of India's poor, was described by one reviewer as an "unadorned portrait" of India seen "from the bottom of the heap".

As accolades poured in thick and fast, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too congratulated Adiga: “I join the people of this country in celebrating this international recognition of your literary accomplishment."

The Mumbai-based author had been given odds of 7/1 before the ceremony by bookmakers William Hill. Irish writer Barry had been tipped to take the prize at 7/4. The bookmakers' favourite has not won since Yann Martel in 2002 for "Life of Pi".

Born in Chennai and raised partly in Australia, Adiga, who always wanted to be a novelist since he was a boy, studied at Columbia and Oxford Universities and was a former correspondent for TIME magazine in India based out of Delhi.

Adiga, who beat off competition from five other authors, including fellow Indian Amitav Ghosh, nominated for his "Sea of Poppies", dedicated the prize to New Delhi where he has lived for many years.

"It's a city that I love and a city that's going to determine India's future and the future of a large part of the world. It's a book about Delhi, so I dedicate it to the people that made it happen," he said.

"It is a fact that for most of the poor people in India there are only two ways to go up - either through crime or through politics, which can be a variant of crime," Adiga told the BBC.

"These people at the bottom have the same aspirations as the middle class - to make it in life, to become businessmen, to create business empires. They need to be given their legitimate needs - the schooling, the education, the health care - to achieve those dreams. If not, as I said, there are only two ways up: crime or politics."

Back home, his alma mater St. Aloysius High School in Karnataka's coastal city of Mangalore, where he was a top-ranking student, invited him on Oct 18.

"We are extremely happy. We congratulated him Wednesday morning as soon we learnt he has been chosen for the award. We hope he will make it to the Oct 18 meeting so that we can honour him," Fr. Denzil Lobo, a former Aloysian who now teaches there, told IANS on telephone from Mangalore.

"He was a quiet student. Well disciplined and among the best in his class," recalled Sambu Shetty, who was assistant head master of the school when Adiga was a high school student in the late 1980s.

Students and teachers at the James Ruse Agricultural High in north-west Sydney, Adiga's other alma mater, also celebrated.

"We are very proud of Adiga's wonderful achievement. It is amazing for someone so young at 34 to receive one of the highest awards in literature. It reinforces the view of our school as a wonderful place of learning," James Ruse principal Larissa Treskin said.

Adiga joined James Ruse school in 1992 half way through Class 10 and topped the New South Wales (NSW) state in the Class 12 ancient history exam.

Lipika Bhushan, marketing manager of Harper Collins Publishers, said there would be a grand welcome for Adiga in Delhi.

“He will be going to the Frankfurt book fair and then come back to Delhi,” she said.

The other shortlisted authors were Amitav Ghosh ("Sea of Poppies"), Steve Toltz of Australia ("A Fraction of the Whole"), Sebastian Barry of Ireland ("The Secret Scripture"), and British writers Linda Grant and Philip Hensher ("The Clothes on Their Backs" and "The Northern Clemency" respectively).

Indian origin authors to win the Booker Prize before him are V.S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai.

Adiga's alma mater in Sydney toasts his success

Students and teachers at James Ruse Agricultural High in north-west Sydney, the alma mater of Indian-Australian author Aravind Adiga, Wednesday celebrated his Man Booker Prize win.

"We are very proud of Adiga's wonderful achievement. It is amazing for someone so young at 34 to receive one of the highest awards in literature. It reinforces the view of our school as a wonderful place of learning," James Ruse principal Larissa Treskin told IANS.

Adiga, who was born in Chennai on Oct 23, 1974, joined James Ruse school in 1992 half way through Class 10 and topped the New South Wales (NSW) state in the Class 12 ancient history exam.

Teachers fondly remember him as a gifted all-rounder. His English teacher Judith Anderson, who has since retired, was always very proud of Adiga's writing skills.

Anderson, who has read the book, said she wasn't surprised by his success. She remembers him as a student who always stood out from the crowd and showed keen interest in world politics and cultures.
The 850-strength co-educational school is renowned for academic excellence and has been ranked first in the state academic results for the past 12 years.

The students, used to excellence and competing at international Olympiads in various fields, were overjoyed as the news of one of their ex-students making it big on the world stage of literature filtered through the classrooms.

"Adiga has become a great role model for our students. We would love to have him as a speaker at the school's golden jubilee celebrations next year in 2009," Treskin, who has been principal for the past two years, said.

Australian media has been quick to claim Adiga, who lives in Mumbai, as their very own as he has dual Indian and Australian citizenship.

His debut novel, "The White Tiger", was Wednesday out of stock at the Berkelouw Paddington bookstore on Sydney's Oxford Street, but at Borders' flagship store in Bondi Junction the remaining 12 copies were selling fast.

"We have had several enquiries about 'The White Tiger' since Adiga won the 2008 Man Booker Prize. We have sold three copies today and a shipment is on the way as we see the demand for the book increasing in the coming days," a Borders' spokesperson said.


Indo-Asian News Service