JOINT STATEMENT ON THE BARBARIC ASSAULT
IN MANGALORE
Bangalore: 9 p.m., 29 January 2009
We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the horrific and unprovoked assault by a group of 40
hooligans, reportedly members of the Sri Rama Sene, on young women in a pub in the coastal
city of Mangalore, Karnataka, during the afternoon of Saturday, 24 January 2009. We are
saddened by the inaction of the public who looked on as the brutal attack unfolded. But we
appreciate the attitude and actions of the staff of the pub, who tried to intervene, and the young
man who stood up to the attackers.
We are shocked by the tardy action of the State administration, police, and political leadership,
some of whom have dismissed this is as a “minor incident”. We believe that violent threats to the
democratic freedoms and human rights of citizens, whether women or religious minorities,
cannot be trivialised as “unfortunate”.
We are deeply disturbed by the sharply escalating trend of political and social violence against
women in public and private spaces as a means to enforce a particularly regressive interpretation
of culture in the name of “religion and country” that has been seen in several parts of India. We
condemn all such forms of gender-based violence against women and children and the attitudes
that make such violence acceptable, whether in the family or in the social and public spheres.
We believe that the Mangalore assault was not an isolated episode by self-appointed “moral
police” and their sympathisers who criminally took the law into their own hands, but that it is
part of a pattern in the profoundly contested political struggle over what constitutes Indian
traditions, religions and cultures. It is evident that in this instance the attackers were emboldened
to carry out the unprovoked assault in a political environment that supports a particularly narrow
and fanatical view of Indian culture as also a repressive attitude towards women.
We recognise the role of the media in bringing the assault to public notice and their unrelenting
efforts to get the State to act against those immediately responsible for it. However, we are
gravely concerned that those members of the media who had prior notice of the planned assault
did not deem it their responsibility as citizens to inform the police.
We strongly believe that the State and democratically minded citizens must stand up to the
violent targeting of women and re-affirm our commitment to the human rights and civil liberties
of all people. There can and should be dialogues on what constitutes “Indian-ness”, but
regardless of the interpretations of Indian culture and traditions, the beating and molesting
women cannot be condoned.
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Sumi Krishna, Bangalore: Coordinator: sumikr@gmail.com
Ammu Joseph, Bangalore
Soma K.P., New Delhi
U. Vindhya, Hyderabad
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5. Joy Ranadive, Ahmedabad
6. Mary E. John, New Delhi
7. Gopa Samanta, Burdwan (West Bengal)
8. Anuradha Prasad, Bangalore
9. Sharad Lele, Bangalore
10. Prajval Shastri, Bangalore
11. Ajit Menon, Chennai
12. Cynthia Stephen, Bangalore
13. M. Indira, Mysore
14. Meera Velayudhan, Ahmedabad
15. S. Anandi, Chennai
16. Kumkum Roy, New Delhi
17. Jaya Bhattacharjee Rose, New Delhi
18. Claire Noronha, New Delhi
19. Anuradha De, New Delhi
20. Meera Samson, New Delhi
21. Hrangthan Chhungi, Bangalore
22. Ratna Sudarshan, New Delhi
23. Rukmini Sen, Kolkata
24. Anomita Sen, New Delhi
25. Pushpa Achanta, Bangalore
26. Shobita Rajagopal, IDS, Jaipur
27. Anita Ghai, New Delhi
28. Samir Ghosh, Pune
29. Leo Saldhana, Bangalore
30. Padmini Swaminathan, Chennai
31. Megha Shenoy, New Haven,US /Bangalore
32. Fahim Kemal, Hyderabad
33. Kiran Kamal Prasad, Bangalore
34. Bharati Jagannathan, Faridabad, Haryana
35. Uma Iyengar, New Delhi
36. Deepa Dhanraj, Bangalore
37. Anuradha Kapoor, Swayam, Kolkata
38. Jayashri Murali, Bangalore
39. George Pulikuthiyil, Kerala
40. Mahesh Bhat, Bangalore
41. Nagesh Hegde, Bangalore
42. Lawrence Surendra, Mysore
43. Chaman Pincha, Chennai
44. Anupama Bijur, Bangalore
45. Shampa Sengupta, Kolkata
46. Joesph Xavier, Bangalore
47. Apurba K. Baruah, NEHU, Shillong
48. Mangai, Chennai
49. Deepak, K. Mishra, JNU, New Delhi
50. Abha Sur, MIT, Boston (US)
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51. Siddharth Narrain, ALF, Bangalore
52. Chhaya Datar, Mumbai
53. Ramesh Dodamani, Mysore
54. Rashna Batliwala Singh, Colorado Springs, (US)
55. Uma Chakravarti, New Delhi
56. Sumantra Nag, New Delhi
57. Madhu Sarin, Chandigarh
58. L.C. Nagaraj, Bangalore
59. Pritam Baruah, Kolkata
60. Ishani Roy, Mumbai
61. Shilpa Phadke, Mumbai
62. Pradeep Esteves, Bangalore
63. Sangeeta Dutta, London
64. Anjali Monteiro, TISS, Mumbai
65. K.P. Jayasankar, TISS, Mumbai
66. Meena Gopal, Mumbai
67. Shashi Deshpande, Bangalore
68. Ramapriya Gopalakrishnan, Chennai
69. Manisha Gupte, MASUM, Pune
70. Ramesh Awaste, MASUM, Pune
71. Kamala Ganesh, Mumbai
72. Indira Pathak, Vikalp, Baroda
73. Maya Sharma Parma, Baroda
74. Manjula Padiyar, Nari Adalat, Baroda
75. Jatin Joshi, Chotudepur (Gujarat)
76. Sakhi Sanghatan, Thilakvada (Gujarat)
77. Leela Fernandez, Rutgers Univ. New Brunswick (US)
78. Ammel Sharon, TISS/ Samadhan, Mangalore
79. Shakun, Vimochana, Bangalore
80. Deepti Sharma, New Delhi
81. Anita Mathew, Alto Porvorim,Goa.
82. Chandita Mukherjee, Mumbai
83. Kamayani Bali Mahabal, ARROW, Kuala Lumpur
84. Jeanne Subramaniam, Bangalore
85. Arun Subramaniam, Bangalore
86. Wilfred Dcosta, INSAF, Ahmedabad
87. Rebecca Abraham, Hongkong
88. Maj. Gen. Sudhir Vombatkere, Mysore
89. Fr. Joe Xavier, sj., ISI, Bangalore
90. Vijayathilagam, ISI, Bangalore
91. Lorraine Moreira, ISI, Bangalore
92. Mercy Kappen, Visthaar, Bangalore
93. Saswati Ghosh, Kolkata
94. Molly Furtado, Mysore
95. Sasi Kumar, New Delhi
96. Lena Ganesh, Mumbai
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97. Saumya Uma, Mumbai
98. Samita Sen, Kolkata
99. Jashodhara Dasgupta, Health Watch Forum, Lucknow
100. Saba Dewan, New Delhi
101. Rahul Roy, New Delhi
102. Vineeta Bal, Saheli, New Delhi
103. Krishna Shukla, Hyderabad
104. Cavery Bopiah
105. Kathyayini Chamaraj, Bangalore
106. Brinda Adige, GCI, Bangalore
107. Rakhi Pande, Mumbai
108. Christina Kantharaj, Mysore
109. Ellora Puri, Jammu
110. Sadhna Arya, Saheli, New Delhi
111. Amrutha Valli, Bangalore
112. Cheryll Pereira, Mumbai
113. Kumkum Lal, New Delhi
114. Ashok Lal, New Delhi
115. Sunita Srinivasan, Bangalore
116. Ritu Dewan, Bombay Univ, Mumbai
117. Rini Ralte, Bangalore
118. Tarshi (Radhika Chandiramani), New Delhi
119. Natalie Pereira, Bangalore
120. Amar Jesani, Mumbai
121. Rajesh Ramakrishnan, New Delhi
122. Monica Narula, New Delhi
123. R. Sukanya, Bangalore
124. Indu Agnihotri, New Delhi
125. Nidhi Agarwal, New Delhi
126. Manshi Agarwal, Himachal Pradesh
127. Purnima McCutcheon, LEED AP, Chennai
128. Dolphy D’souza, Bombay Catholic Sabha, Mumbai
129. Alwyn D’Silva, Mumbai
130. Biplab Mukherjee, Kolkata
131. J. Devika, Thiruvanthapuram
132. Sukla Sen, Ekta, Mumbai
133. Wandana Sonalkar, BAmbedkar Marathwada Univ, Aurangabad
134. Aftab Kamal Pasha, JNU, New Delhi
135. Yoganandan Krishnan, Bangalore
136. Anjula Gurtoo, IISC, Bangalore
137. Jith Chacko, Ostersund, Sweden
138. Shwetha Vachani, New Delhi
139. Sudha Narasimhachar, Bangalore
140. Arunesh Maiyar, Bangalore
141. Jamila Verghese, New Delhi
142. Gita Madhu, Kuala Lumpur
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Vijayshri Iyengar, Akshara, Bangalore
Payal Dhar, Bangalore
Vineetha Mokkil, New Delhi
Utsav Banerjee, Hyderabad
Sudeshna Mukherjee, Bangalore
Malathi Velamuri, Wellington, Newzealand
Harish Sadani (Men Against Violence and Abuse), Mumbai
C. G. Manjula, Bangalore
Markus Pfefferer, Bangalore
Bonita Aleaz, Kolkata
Sourindra Ghosh, New Delhi
Sumati Surya, Bangalore
Gita Chadha, Mumbai
Javed Malick, New Delhi
Neeraj Malik, New Delhi
Mariola Menezes, Nigeria
Sampreethi Aipanjiguly, Khatmandu
Thomas Nielsen, Khatmandu
Pramod A. Pullarkat, RRI, Bangalore
Ponni Arasu, Bangalore
Partners for Law in Development, New Delhi
Nirantar, New Delhi
Saheli, New Delhi
Seema Siddique, London
Walter Fernandes, NESRC, Guwahati
Suresh Parekh, Mumbai
Anagha Sarpotdar, Mumbai
Mukul Dube, Delhi
Nandini Manjrekar, Mumbai
Aurina Chatterjee, Mumbai
Anushree Banerjee, Mumbai
Lina Krishna, Bangalore
Harkant Mankad, Mumbai
Niruj Mohan R., Bangalore
Jayant Radhakrishnan, Chicago
Swathi Sivanand, Mumbai
Maithili Gupte, Mumbai
Ammu Abraham, Mumbai
Jagori, New Delhi
Di Cooper, Mumbai
Tanushree Gangopadhyay, Bangalore
Gayatri Sunil Phadke, Mumbai
Rajesh Ranjan, Hyderabad
Sana Rizvi, New York
Vikram Ahuja, Bangalore
Renjini Varghese, Pune
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Sandeep Krishna, Copenhagen/ Bangalore
V. Uday Bhanu, San Francisco
Reama Ramachandran, New York
Roshan Suvarna, New York
Aasha Ramesh, Bangalore
Atuk Bhutia, New Delhi
Agnel Pereira, Bahrain
Lakshmi Lingam, Mumbai
Subodh S. Gupta, Sewagram, Wardha
Revathi Laul, New Delhi
Subhashini Muthukrishnan
Rajika Shukla, New Delhi
Lynne Henry
Renu Ramnath, Kochi
Rakesh Sharma, Mumbai
Sai Thakur, Mumbai
N. Devadasan, Bangalore
Kalpana Kannabiran, Asmita, Hyderabad
Vasanth Kannabiran, Asmita, Hyderabad
Volga, Asmita, Hyderabad
Vanaja, Hyderabad
Shyamala Shiveshwarkar, New Delhi
Hartman de Souza, Pune
J.M.K. Sekar, Chennai
Rajeev Kalekar
CEHAT (Sana Contractor), Pune
Sheelu, Women's Collective, Tamilnadu
Sundari, TNRT, Chennai.
V.Chandra, WEED, Chennai
Sharmilee Nielsen, Chennai
Klaus Nielsen, Chennai
Shewli, Mumbai
Naresh Fernandes, Mumbai
Anita Cheria, Openspace, Bangalore
Prafulla Mishra, Nairobi
Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Kolkata
Ravi Vasudevan, New Delhi
Satnam Kaur, Saheli, New Delhi
John Kurien, CLR, Pune
Kumud Sharma, New Delhi
Tilottama S. Misra, Guwahati
Sapna Shahani, Mumbai
Mohan Haridas, Nagpur
Kumara Swamy H., Mysore
Jason Keith Fernandes, Goa
John Dayal, New Delhi
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Dileep Simeon, New Delhi
Smitha S. Pendharkar, WUNRN Revere, MA (US)
Pradeep Narayanan, New Delhi
Citizens’ Inititiative for Peace (Jatin Desai), Mumbai
Vrinda Grover, New Delhi
Abhisheka, New Delhi
M. Rajkumar
Saraswati Raju, JNU, New Delhi
Philomena Lydia Fernandes, Goa
Aariz Mohammed, CSJ, Hyderabad
Beena, [245-264, all Asmita, Hyderabad]
Sharifa Siddiqui
Pallavi Gupta
Meera
Vaishali
Nagamma
Rajyalakshmi
Asha
Santhi
P. Anuradha
T. Anuradha
Padmalakshmi
Nikhat
Kranthi
Padmini
Subbalakshmi
Sujatha
Sarah
Sudha
Neela
Nivedita Menon, JNU, Delhi
Amrita Dhar, Kolkata
Feroze Mithiborwala, Awami Bharat, Mumbai
Kishore Jagtap, Ganai Sanskritik Andolan, Mumbai
Jyoti Badekar, Marathi Bharti, Mumbai
Varsha V V, Sameep Pratishthan, Mumbai
Amol Madame, Sameep Pratishthan, Mumbai
Sayeed Khan, Awami Bharat, Mumbai
Arif Kapadia, Awami Bharat, Mumbai
Gaurav Karia, Awami Bharat, Mumbai
Jagdish Nagarkar, Phule-Ambedkar Vichar Manch, Mumbai
Mulniwasi Mala, Indian Social Movement, Mumbai
John Fernandes, Rajahmundry (Andhra)
Rita D’Silva, Mumbai
Sudha Rajagopalan, Univ of Utrecht, Netherlands
Concerned for Working Children (Kavita Ratna), Bangalore
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Malini Gurbaxani, Pune
Rohini Hensman, Mumbai
Suma Embar, Mysore
Rajani Konantambigi, Mumbai
Aryakrishnan Ramakrishnan, Kochi
Veena, Bangalore
Anchita Ghatak, Kolkata
Kirtiwan. D. Morarji, Mumbai
Daya Varma, McGill Univ. Montreal
Natasha Koshy, TISS, Mumba
Navneeta Majumder, Mumbai
Monika Mehta, TISS, Mumbai
Shubhobrato Ghosh, AIM, Manila
Paul Heron, Pune
Farida Gazdar, Mumbai/Paris
Vidya K.S., Mumbai
Shruti Chakravarty, FAOW, Mumbai
Nachiket Joshi, New York
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