Hate and Communalism return to haunt Coastal Karnataka | LME 76

 The coastal city of Mangaluru is once again simmering with tension.

It’s a familiar, troubling pattern of communal unrest and violence, playing out all over again.

In just a month, the city has witnessed a lynching, two murders, and multiple stabbings.

Ashraf. Suhas Shetty. And now, Abdul Rahiman.

Each of these incidents have further deepened divides 

Social media is being used to amplify the unrest. Exaggerated claims and outright fabrications are spreading fast, fuelling anger and suspicion.

Mainstream media isn’t far behind. Much of the coverage has been provocative and one-sided.

Meanwhile, right-wing Hindutva groups are back to familiar tactics from their playbook.

So what exactly is happening in coastal Karnataka? Let me explain.

Before I go into the latest cycle of violence, let me remind you that many journalists too in the last few years have become allies of misinformation. They help spread communal falsehoods and amplify polarising messages. Here at the news Minute, we have a track record of ensuring that we report from the ground and not peddle agenda. We join the dots and give the big picture of why these communal incidents take place. We bring voices that are sidelined by others so you get all sides of the story.

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After a brief lull of three years, communal violence has returned to coastal Karnataka.

And the pattern, now almost unique to the region, is grimly familiar. 

Let me quickly recap the events that led up to this.

The latest victim in this cycle of violence is Abdul Rahiman, a pickup van driver and mosque secretary. He was hacked to death in broad daylight on May 27 near Mangaluru. About 15 men armed with swords, knives, and rods attacked him while he was unloading sand. His companion, Kalandar Shafi, was badly injured and hospitalised.

The murder sparked outrage. People blocked the Police Commissioner’s car, demanding justice and action against VHP leaders who made provocative speeches days before.

District minister Dinesh Gundu Rao called it an organized plot to stir trouble. 

VHP leader Sharan Pumpwell was arrested for provocative remarks and inciting violence. He’s now out on bail.

He had given a call for a district-wide bandh.

When the bandh failed, his supporters reportedly sparked violence, damaging property and spreading fear

The cycle of violence in the coast started after a gap of three years on April 27. 

36-year-old Ashraf from Wayanad, Kerala, was lynched during a local cricket match.

His family says he had been struggling with mental health issues.

According to the FIR, Ashraf was chased by a group of men, as he ran toward a daivasthana, a local temple. In his panic, he tripped and fell. That’s when the mob caught up to him.

They kicked and punched him relentlessly

Ashraf later succumbed to his injuries. 

So far, the Mangaluru police have arrested 20 men.

Now here’s where the narratives diverge. 

According to the FIR, which was based on a statement from one of the accused Deepak Kumar, Ashraf allegedly shouted "Pakistan Zindabad" while walking to the cricket ground. 

But a few locals have offered another version. They say the attack began because Ashraf drank water from the temple premises. 

Only later did the story shift to patriotism, as a post-facto justification.

An investigation is underway.

Just three days after Ashraf’s lynching, there was another killing. Of Suhas Shetty. 

Suhas was an accused in the murder of Mohammed Fazil. 

Fazil was killed in July 2022.

He had no political connections, but he is believed to be just a Muslim killed in retaliation to the murder of BJP youth wing worker Praveen Nettaru. 

According to NIA, Nettaru was killed on July 2022 by a “killer squad” of now banned the PFI

In May, Suhas was ambushed near the Bajpe bus stand.

The attackers pulled him out and assaulted him with deadly weapons. 

And the entire attack was caught on camera.

And who was behind that murder? One was Faazil’s brother and another was Abdul Safwan. Somebody Suhas allegedly tried to kill in 2023.

You see the cycle right? It’s never ending.

But the problem is that these killings are used to polarise further 

The day after Suhas’s killing, three Muslim men were attacked in separate incidents. 

In another incident, a muslim auto driver was stopped by a mob and the police had to intervene

All of them are suspected to be random revenge attacks. This is not new to the region. 

There’s another pattern we have seen playing out many times. The right-wing organisations appropriating Hindus who are killed as ‘Hindutva activists’ based on their convenience.

Like in the case of Suhas Shetty too. In 2022, after Suhas was an accused in the murder of Faazil, Sharan Pumpwell has said Suhas was not a Bajrang Dal member. 

In fact, it was during the BJP’s tenure, in 2020, that Suhas was registered as a rowdy-sheeter. 

But later on, especially after he was killed, Suhas has been appropriated as a Hindutva leader by the BJP and other right wing organisations. 

But in many cases these “Hindutva activists” were rarely actually affiliated with the RSS, says Naveen Sooranji. Naveen is a senior journalist who has reported on communalism in coastal Karnataka for decades now. 

Let me give a few more examples.

In 2017, an 18-year-old named Paresh Mesta was found dead in Shettikere Lake in Honnavar. His death sparked communal tension. The BJP claimed it was a hate crime, saying Paresh had been burned with hot oil before being being murdered

But five years after the murder, the CBI’s report concluded that Paresh died from drowning. They found no proof that he was murdered or tortured. This is the CBI under the Narendra Modi govt. 

This was not the only one. 

In July 2017, then BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje wrote to the Union govt. She claimed 23 BJP, RSS, and Hindu activists had been killed by “jihadi elements” in Karnataka since 2014. She called it a “bloodbath.” 

But scroll reporter Sruthisagar fact-checked the list. Of the 23, one person was still alive. Two had died by suicide. Two others were allegedly killed by their own sisters.

Police investigations revealed most cases were linked to land disputes, political fights, or personal issues. Only 10 out of 24 cases, including one extra the reporter found, had any real connection to Muslim groups.

But facts notwithstanding, this list was used to spread hate. 

Naveen says the notorious Kadle Manja gang earned the title of Hindutva warriors when they attacked Muslims in the region. 

But later when Manja was killed by his own gang in 2009 the gang was labeled "anti-Hindus." 

Later, when his killers again attacked Muslims, they were once again glorified as Hindu activists.

For many, religion is politics and business. And deliberate spin is used to polarise so a few can benefit from it. 

But in all this, the way social media is being used is concerning. 

Because on social media, there is a different kind of warfare happening. 

This post claims Suhas was murdered for protecting Hindu women from ‘jihad’, cows from slaughter, and because he spoke up for Hindus. 

Now here’s the catch.

Before Faazil’s murder, Suhas had five criminal cases against him. 

Now, some online voices claim he's being smeared as a "rowdy sheeter" only because he opposed Islamist extremism. 

There are many posts claiming the same thing.

But a document released by the Congress shows that instructions to open a rowdy sheet against Suhas were issued in June 2020. 

That’s when the BJP was in power, and the Home Minister was Basavaraj Bommai.

The facts contradict the spin.

WhatsApp groups, meanwhile, have been flooded with inflammatory, communally charged messages.

Sample this viral video by Puneeth Kerehalli, a Hindutva activist with over 12 criminal cases against him.

In the video, he claims that the police shield Muslims who are accused in crimes and deliberately expose Hindus. That they fix targets on their heads so they get killed. He is hurt because Suhas Shetty is being called a rowdy-sheeter. 

These claims have been picked up, echoed, and amplified by several news channels. 

In fact, many newsrooms seem eager to push conspiracy theories put forth by Hindutva groups.

Like the claim that Suhas’s murder was "state-sponsored."

Much of the coverage is full of hyperbole and hate.

Take this headline, for instance: “Suhas, who said Bharat Mata Ki Jai, has been killed.”

Across platforms, Suhas is being hailed as a "Hindu activist." There’s little to no mention of his criminal record, or that many of his victims were Hindus too.

That’s how virtue signalling works — by hiding uncomfortable facts, by weaponising identity, and by fuelling dangerous myths.

Produced by Megha Mukundan, edited by Nikhil Sekhar, script and research by Pooja Prasanna and Shivani Kava, Graphics Dharini Prabharan