NO DOUBT, India is not a Taliban state. We live in a democratic country where right to freedom of individual has been enshrined in the Constitution and by law we are guaranteed to it. Infringement, in any form of this right is punishable by law. And every citizen is empowered to approach the judiciary for ascertaining his or her fundamental rights.

The Sri Ram Sena activists of Mangalore, who shamelessly, beat up innocent women guests and molested them, went against this right to individual freedom and liberty. They must be condemned. This sort of atrocity against the womenfolk is not a new phenomenon in our country. Certainly, it does call for no substantiation to justify.

The mushrooming of fundamentalist groups like the Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, and other groups, formed under the guise of serving the society either directly or indirectly, backed by different political parties may be credited to it. At the moment, these have become an obstacle to individual freedom and the society in particular. It is a contagious virus threatening our peaceful co-existence and questioning the democratic ideology of the Constitution. It’s a fact that goons cannot serve even the mother who gave them life.

The Mangalore episode is an eye icebreaker not only for the state and the central governments, but for all its citizens to realise this social threat. Precisely, it is a right time moment to counteract these cancerous and anti-social elements and bring the culprits to justice. How can a democratic government can afford turn a blind eye when even the basic right of the constitution is being questioned?

The state should be held responsible for allowing such organisations to function openly. The administration must wake up it is the responsibility of the state to guard its citizens from these fundamentalists and keep away their narrow political interests for the welfare of its victimised citizens. The government must come to the forefront, rather than wait for its citizens to act upon. As long as they have a free hand in the modus operandi, the Taliban style of atrocities will continue to break the media headlines for wrong reasons.

Today, it is in Mangalore and tomorrow, no one knows where it will go off. Certainly, the provision of the Constitution of the ‘right to form any organisation for peaceful purposes’ should be strictly monitored and it demands redefining of the very concept of the Constitution, as no organisation should be allowed to function, which have religious backing.