MANGALURU: ON the night of July 7, 2017, RSS worker Sharath Madiwala (28), who was downing the shutter of his ‘Uday Laundry’ on B C Road in Mangaluru, was murdered by miscreants. This is suspected to be in retaliation for the murder of Ashraf Kalayi, a member of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), who was killed on June 21 in Bantwal.
Nine months after the murder, on Friday morning, Sharath’s elder sister and 68-year-old father Thaniyappa Madiwala, are seen serving customers with a cheerful smile at the family laundry shop. But behind those smiles, there is emptiness and immeasurable pain.
“We, who eke a living by washing this town’s dirty linen, never had imagined that my brother Sharath will be a victim of political conspiracy,’’ says the eldest sister, who was forced to quit her teaching job in a private school in Bantwal taluk in order to assist her aged parents in running the house and shop.
“A part of my future also died with my only son. I am just biding my time,’’ Thaniyappa Madiwala says bitterly. “Sharat was a social worker, loved by people of all religions. After his death, a majority of our customers who are Muslims, cried and expressed grief on losing a friend,” he informs.
Thaniyappa had submitted a memorandum to BJP president Amit Shah demanding a high-level probe into his son’s death during the latter’s visit to the district.
On being informed that all 15 accused were released on bail, Thaniyappa intends to file a complaint after
consulting advocates, against the district-in-charge minister and his aide Prakash Shetty.