The diamond jubilee celebration of West Kolakeri Gramabhivriddhi Sangha attended by BJP leader Ramesh Muthaiah, Congress MLC Veena Achaiah along with several Bajrang Dal and RSS members on May 29 (Photo: Twitter/ Mohammad Irshad)

By Veena Nair / Siasat

A recent video has surfaced on Twitter where men dressed in burqas and under the influence of alcohol are seen dancing. A Bajrang Dal leader Harish Poyyaiah (in a red shirt) is also seen dancing along with them.

The video was shared by Karnataka-based journalist Mohammed Irshad, on his official Twitter account. The event occurred on May 29, on the occasion of the diamond jubilee celebration of West Kolakeri Gramabhivriddhi Sangha presided by Katoleri Kuttappa. The event occurred in Napoklu village in the Kodagu district.

The event was reportedly attended by West Kolakkeri Gramabhivriddhi president and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ramesh Muthaiah, Congress MLC Veena Achaiah along with several Bajrang Dal and RSS members.

According to a report by The New Indian Express, K Mutthiah clarified that the Congress MLC was present for the inaugural ceremony but not during the dance. When asked about the burqa dance, he said, “There is communal harmony in the village and the programme was not intended at hurting the religious sentiments of the Muslims.”

A hesitant, inactive police force:

A few days ago, Kodagu district, Karnataka, hosted a week-long arms training for cadets of Bajrang Dal, the right-wing organisation. The training was held at Sai Shankar Educational Institute in Ponnampet village. The photos from the event soon went viral on social media and drew heavy criticism.

According to sources from the Kodagu district, this was not the first time such training camps were held. “These kinds of training and events have been happening for a long time. But none of them gets reported,” said a source.

The source, who Siasat.com is keeping anonymous, went on to say, “Ever since the inspector who registered a case against the Bajrang Dal training camp got transferred, many police officials in the district are hesitant to file an FIR.”

Jayaram S M Circle Inspector of Gonikoppa Circle in Madikeri district, who filed an FIR against the Bajrang Dal leaders, was abruptly transferred to Karnataka Lokayukta by the BJP-led state government.

Right-wing parties eyeing Kodagu:

According to the source, Kodagu has been witnessing many anti-Muslim events in the form of derogatory dance.

“For many months, in various villages here, we are witnessing members of the right-wing organisations who start dancing on the roads dressed in burqas and skull caps and in a very derogatory manner,” the source said. However, they maintained that normal Hindus do not participate in such events.

The source further said that these dances have become a common sight in Kutta and Chembe Bellur villages in the Virajpet constituency of the Kodagu district.

“Mostly such dances will happen either in a temple festival or if people have had some kind of celebrations and they want to take it further to hurt Muslim sentiments,” said the source.

Videos from the aforementioned villages:

When asked if the Muslim community in these areas did anything to protest against the said vulgarity, the source replied in negative.

“This is the biggest problem. The Muslim community hardly takes any action which instills confidence in the right-wing leaders,” the source said.

“Even if someone from the Muslim community tries to file an FIR, the police officials are hesitant,” the source concluded.

This article first appeared on siasat.com