In a troubling incident that unfolded on February 3rd, a farmer from Lokur village in Dharwad district, Karnataka, was the victim of an assault at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Market in Dharwad. The victim suffered severe injuries and was identified as Erappa Udikeri, a Hindu farmer. Based on the Tv9 Kannada report, Erappa was targeted and attacked by few Muslim farmers for the sole reason that he was Hindu.
Erappa Udikeri, known for his regular vegetable trade at the APMC market, filed a complaint after the incident at the local police station and is currently receiving medical treatment. According to Erappa, tensions had been brewing over the control of the vegetable trade in the market, with previous incidents of confrontations reported. In the past, he claimed that groups of young men, numbering between eight to ten, had engaged in similar assaults, driven by religious bias.
Erappa Udikeri had come to the market to sell vegetables when the altercation ensued. He alleged that the traders assaulted him because he, a Hindu, was engaging in vegetable trade, which they perceived as their domain. He claimed that Hindus are being targeted, expressing fear and stating the threats issued by Islamist mobs: “We will end you as we do to cattle” and “We will not spare you.”
Erappa Udikeri was threatened by Islamist mobs; his face was struck by those assailants, causing injuries. Despite this, authorities and certain media outlets are downplaying the communal nature of the incident, seemingly attempting to conceal its significance. When mobs use derogatory language like “you are cattle” and issue threats such as “we will not spare you,” it strongly suggests a communal dimension to the violence. The report by leftist media outlet South First has stirred controversy by asserting that the Dharwad market brawl lacked communal undertones, instead highlighting a narrative of inter-communal friendship. They attempted to portray a non-communal angle to the issue, emphasising the dispute over the goods vehicle’s path rather than acknowledging the communal tensions underlying the incident, ignoring the clear religious bias and targeting Erappa faced.
Instances like that of the murder of Umesh Kolhe, who was murdered brutally by Islamists for sharing a WhatsApp post supporting Nupur Sharma. The murder was hatched by 11 Tablighi Jamaat radicals but was initially pushed under the carpet as having “no communal angle” by the police.
The police department appears to have shirked its responsibility to address the case of Erappa as having a communal angle.
