Mangaluru: The New Year began on a bloody note in coastal Karnataka with the brutal murder of Bajrang Dal member Deepak Rao.

What went unnoticed is the attack on two other individuals in retaliation to Deepak’s murder. The fact that these two Muslim youth are not associated with any outfit but still ended up in hospital clearly demonstrates the hatred between the two communities.

Communal discord in coastal Karnataka is not new. At least, a thousand people have been assaulted owing to communal issues in recent years. On the other hand, politicians have left no stone unturned to cash in on the opportunity to earn political brownie points and data compiled by Suresh Bhat Bakrabail of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties has documented this. Incidentally, Karnataka will go to polls this year.

While Deepak was murdered in broad daylight on January 3, as many as 125 cases of communal disturbance were registered in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts in the year gone by.

Going by the past record, increase in cases of communal clashes when elections are around the corner is a common phenomenon in coastal districts. As the state was scheduled to go to polls in May 2013, Dakshina Kannada coasted towards communal discord and registered as many as 132 cases in this connection in 2012.

Unfortunately, the coastal stretch has continued to boil over the issue since then. In 2013, the year of election, as many as 111 cases were registered. The next two years witnessed a stark rise in the number of cases registered over the issue. As many as 173 cases in 2014 and 228 cases in 2015 were registered. The number came down to 104 cases in 2016.

In the run up to the 2009 election as well, at least 90 cases were registered, the major one being alleged conversions by the churches. As many as 19 churches and prayer halls in the coast were destroyed. The case is closed now. Cattle trafficking had become the bone of contention during the 2004 elections.

The peace loving coast was divided in the garb of protecting religion in the last decade of the 20th century. An incident that occurred in 1998 changed the image of the city. A major clash was seen at Surathkal, which resulted in eight deaths. The fight erupted over a Muslim dating a Hindu girl. Following this riot, social vigilantism became a major social phenomenon in the district. The state went to polls in 1999.

It may be interesting to note that the 1998 incident and the death of Deepak Rao took place barely a few kilometres away from each other.