“Dargah versus Peeta”
[From the Archives]
“Dargah versus Peeta”: Hindutva’s Politics of Appropriating Syncretic Culture in Karnataka
A paper by : Dr.Muzaffar Assadi
Dept of Studies in Political Science
University of Mysore
Manasagangotri
Mysore 570 0006, Karnataka
For the past couple of years, Karnataka is witnessing the growth of communal politics, manifested in the form of communal conflict or riots. This trend has increased after the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. In some districts or parts of Karnataka, the frequency has increased such as in Gadag, Mangalore, Hubli, Belgam, and Chickmagalur. The last district is slowly receiving the national focus mainly due to Hindutva’s deliberate attempt to appropriate symbol of syncretic culture and convert the same into a terrain of contestation and thereby expand its social bases in South India. Here lies the larger agenda of constructing one more Ayodhya in South India.This would help in completing its project of capturing the power of Indian state in due course. This is the reason why a sustained effort is being made to retain the tempo of the movement to liberate the “Dargah/peeta” from the clutches of “Muslims”- the presence of the latter is essential to construct an external “enemy” to justify the logic of Hindutva.