MANGALORE, Mar 19: A few acts of kindness during group clashes at Kaup on Sunday saved the lives of people caught in the melee.

Some of the victims who were undergoing treatment in a hospital on Tuesday told The Hindu how they saw two sides of human nature on that day. Aarif, Ahraf, Thaufeek, Sirajuddin, Hameed, Sarfaraz, Navman and Rajesh, all from Mulky in Dakshina Kannada, were returning by a car from Brahmavar after a cricket tournament on Sunday. They were stuck in traffic jam at Kaup.

According to Hameed, a group of 30 to 40 people returning from the Hindu Samajotsava surrounded the car and asked if its occupants were Muslims. They saw a sticker on the windshield that said “Masha-Allah” and broke the windshield. “We opened the doors and tried to run from the spot. However, they caught and thrashed us,” said Hameed. Rajesh showed the attackers that his ears were pierced and he had a sacred thread, to prove his religion, despite which he was attacked.

Hameed managed to get away. He was offered shelter in the house of a Hindu family. Aarif ran towards a residential area and collapsed in the courtyard of a house belonging to a Hindu family. He said that two women offered him shelter and gave him water. “They later took me to a hospital for first aid,” he said.

Hameed said, “Hindutva people attacked us and Hindus saved us.” Soori Shetty, a local resident, ensured that all of us were taken to hospital, Mr. Sirajuddin added.

Speaking to The Hindu, Shetty said, “Human life is more important than religion.”

A case was registered by the Kaup police on Tuesday based on the statement of Mr. Hameed.

The Kota police said on Wednesday that the president of the madrassa, Bhasha Sahib, had lodged a complaint at the police station stating that he was sleeping in a room next to the madrassa on Tuesday night, while the teacher, Maulvi Umarul Farook Charmady, was sleeping inside the madrassa with two students.

Case registered

When Charmady opened the door of the madrassa at around 4 am he found that the door had been blackened by fire. A bottle half-filled with petrol was found nearby. A case has been registered. Security has been provided to the madrassa, the police said.

Asked when the miscreants might have attempted to set fire to the madrassa, the Kota police said that the incident could have taken place between 8.30 pm on Tuesday and 4 am on Wednesday.

The Additional Superintendent of Police of Udupi district, Kashinath Talkeri, also confirmed the incident and said that investigations were going on.

Teacher’s version

Speaking to The Hindu over the telephone, Charmady said that a window of the madrassa had also been blackened from the fire. Charmady said, “Our madrassa has only one entrance. The miscreants wanted to finish us off,” he said.

“We have been saved by the grace of Allah. If the door had caught fire, there would have been no means of escape for us. We are frightened by the incident,” he added.

Udupi: District Health and Family Welfare Officer M.R. Nayak said on Tuesday that it was necessary to create awareness about HIV/AIDS among the youth.

He was speaking at a seminar on “Checking the spread of HIV/AIDS”, organised by the Department of Information, Government Industrial Training Institute, Rotary Club, and Rotract Club, here.

Dr. Nayak said that it was necessary for the youth to take preventive measures to check the spread of HIV/AIDS. They should not indulge in unprotected sex. As many as 41 pregnant women in Udupi district were found to have contracted AIDS in 2008-09, he said. District Nodal AIDS Officer H. Ashok said that between 2003 and March 2009, as many as 4,318 people had tested positive for HIV in the district. In January this year, four pregnant women and 91 others tested positive. In February this year, three pregnant women and 60 people tested positive for HIV, he said.

SHIMOGA: Mallikarjun Murugharajendra Swamiji of Bekkinakalmath said on Saturday that Yakshagana had a pride of place among various art forms.

He was speaking after inaugurating a two-day “Yaksha Ranga Darshan” organised by the Karnataka Janapada and Yakshagana Academy at the Keremane Shambhu Hegde Forum.

He said that it was heartening to note that Yakshagana, which was once restricted only to Malnad and coastal regions, was becoming popular in other parts of the State. He stressed the need for encouraging Yakshagana.

Chairman of the Karnataka Janapada and Yakshagana Academy Kumble Sundar Rao said that Yakshagana should be introduced in the curriculum.

He said that it was important to note that the formation of the academy was the result of the sustained efforts by Yakshagana lovers, artistes and admirers. The need of the hour was to protect all forms of Yakshagana without distorting them.

Mr. Sundar Rao pointed out that the youth were showing keen interest in Yakshagana performance, but were not getting adequate financial support. He called for efforts to ensure minimum financial support to young artistes.

Veteran Yakshanagana artiste Gode Nayarana Rao spoke. Assistant Director of Kannada and Culture N. Harikumar and member of the academy Dattamurthy Bhat were present.

Udupi: Hemant Hegde, film director, on Friday alleged that the activists of a Hindutva group had objected to a 67-foot high statue of Charlie Chaplin he would get installed at Othinene, near Byndoor in Udupi district, for his Kannada film “Houseful”.

Mr. Hegde told presspersons here that besides creating the statue for his film, he wanted it to be a permanent tourist attraction at Othinene and hence decided to have a concrete statue at a cost of Rs. 35 lakh. A temporary statue just to serve the purpose of his film would have cost him Rs. 3.5 lakh. The statue was being created under the guidance of his art director Chethan Mundadi. They began digging a pit of eight feet by eight feet for creating the base for the statue on March 5. But, since the Hindutva group objected twice, the work had to be put off till Friday (March 13). But on Friday, again, the same group disrupted the work at around 2.30 p.m., he alleged.

Mr. Hegde said that the leader of the Hindutva group said that they would not let either a permanent or a temporary statue of Charlie Chaplin installed there. They said that they could not go to the Someshwara temple in the vicinity there after looking at the statue. They questioned the contribution of Charlie Chaplin to India. Mr. Hegde said that his film required a statue of Charlie Chaplin and not of Vivekananda. The leader of the Hindutva group told him in no uncertain terms that he was not afraid of any legal action and that he had 10 cases pending against him. When he (Mr. Hegde) told the leader of the Hindutva group that he had obtained necessary permission from the district authorities and the Tourism Minister G. Janardhan Reddy, the latter said that he simply did not care who had given him the permission. Mr. Hegde said that he would not lodge any police complaint as he would be required to frequent to the police station if he did so.

The artistes had decided to stage a protest in Mangalore on Saturday. A protest would also be staged in Bangalore, he said.

In reply to a question, Mr. Hegde said that the statue of Charlie Chaplin was expected to be completed by April 10.

Udupi: The District Crime Intelligence Bureau (DCIB) arrested a person who was allegedly trying to sell ganja near a water tank at Alevoor village on Wednesday. According to sources, Prakash Poojary, a resident of Kallianpur, was trying to sell 1.5 kg of ganja. The value of the seized drug is estimated at Rs. 30,000. The case has been handed over to the Manipal police.

Udupi: The Women’s sub-committee of the Udupi Division of Insurance Employees Union felicitated Vanaja, the caretaker of the crematorium at Beedinagudde, to mark the International Women’s Day here on Monday.

Nirmala, convener of the sub-committee, said that caretaking of crematoria had been the exclusive preserve of men. But, Ms. Vanaja had been doing this job for the past 17 years, efficiently. “This programme is being held in the crematorium to remove any fear about crematoria among women,” Ms. Nirmala said.