Last week, under the auspice of protecting Hindu culture, thugs from a local right wing Hindu outfit called Sri Rama Sene barged into Amnesia, a popular western style pub in Mangalore, and beat and molested women patronizing the bar.

Local students, the young women, were accused of lewd behavior—namely for drinking and dancing with the young men they were with.

Apparently alerted by members of Sri Rama Sene, media were on the scene prior to the attack. Though the media was criticized for doing nothing to prevent it, video footage of the attacks caught by reporters has stirred outrage from Indians around the country.

A common question asked by those interviewed following the attacks was “Do they (Sri Rama Sene) consider beating women a part of Hindu culture as well?”

Because Mangalore is considered a cosmopolitan and progressive city in South India, the attacks have sparked concerns throughout the country -particularly about the formation of “moral police squads” and the “Talibanization” of Hindu fundamentalist groups in India’s urban and socially moderate areas.

For their part, members of Sri Rama Sene have accused Karnataka’s growing western style “pub culture” of corrupting traditional Hindu values.

“These girls (local students) come from all over India, drink, smoke, and walk around in the night spoiling the traditional girls of Mangalore,” said founding SRS member Pravin Valke in an article for The Indian Express (Tuesday, February 3rd “Mangalore’s Metamorphosis”).

“Why should girls go to pubs? Are they going to serve their future husbands alcohol? Should they not be learning to make chapattis? Bars and pubs should be for men only. We want to ensure that all women are home by 7 pm.”

Though condemning the attacks, Karnataka’s Chief Minister has agreed with SRS members, alleging that “pub culture” is antithetical to Indian values and that there might be widespread sympathy for that opinion among some sectors of the public – especially among Indians who feel “Hindutva” is under attack from Islam terrorism, modern liberalism and foreign cultures.

Arrested by police, the attackers have since been released on bail. According to The Express, pubs in Mangalore have seen a significant drop in business since the attacks.

by Mark Schurmann