UDUPI: With the Assembly election just about a year away, the politics of polarisation is back to haunt the coastal region of Karnataka. Beginning with the headscarf row, this is only likely to intensify as political parties look to score points in the run-up to the polls. While the BJP and the SDPI look to gain from the goings-on, the Congress, which has a voter base scattered across all communities and religions, is treading a more cautious line. Political analysts say that political parties have resorted to such experiments as development issues do not get them the desired results when compared to polarisation.
Over the decades, the coastal belt has become a laboratory for the Sangh Parivar and ahead of every major election, communal issues are whipped up as if on cue. Just like how the BJP expanded its footprints in the region by playing the Hindutva card, the SDPI, which won three seats in a civic poll in Kaup Town, seems to be eager to consolidate on the gains.
According to reliable sources, the hijab row at the Government PU College for Girls in Udupi, where the controversy first broke out, was fuelled by the SDPI and further fanned by the Campus Front of India. Till recently, girls never came wearing the hijab to the college and the issue sprung up suddenly, they pointed out. College development committee president and Udupi MLA K Raghupathi Bhat too is keen to milk the issue, they pointed out.
Political analyst Prof Kokkarne Surendranath Shetty told The New Indian Express that caught between politics and religion, the education of students is at stake. ‘’If the BJP and SDPI leaders are counting on how the polarisation would benefit them, the Congress is trying to play the balancing act. This may play out in different dimensions, but it’s innocent people who become the pawns here,” he rued.
Educationist Rajendra Bhat K says the tacit involvement of political parties in the hijab row cannot be discounted. ‘’I hope the people, particularly students, do not fall prey to the agenda of the political parties’’ he said.