Run down house surrounded by shrubs, no proper water connection and no electricity.
This is the brief description of the house of Hindutva activist Vishwanath Shetty who was killed in 2015 allegedly for being a strong Hindutva supporter.
Shetty’s murder had sparked off tension in Shimoga and the Hindutva outfits were quick to use the situation to spread hatred against Muslims.
After seven years of that incident, the Hindutva leaders have completely forgotten Vishwanath and that he lost his life to the cause of “Hindutva”.
The same leaders who were very vocal in their praise for the courage of Vishwanath after his death have left his poor mother to fend for herself.
Vishwanath’s wife also died soon after. Minakshamma, the poor mother now has the responsibility of taking care of her 12 year old grandson. She is struggling to meet both ends.
The leaders of Sangh Parivar have been often accused of brain washing the children of Dalits and backward communities to become hardcore Hindutva activists. And when they are attacked or killed, they use the tragic incident to gain political mileage and spread their communal agenda further.
But after some time, they forget the very person and their family members who lost their lives for Hindutva agenda. The very leaders do not even try to find out in what condition the poor families are living after losing their young family members.
One such example has come to light from Shimoga itself.
It may be noted that recently, a pro-Hindutva activist called Harsha Jhingade was hacked to death in the same Shimoga city. After the incident, the district witnessed tense situations, stone pelting and arson.
Though some reports say that plenty of monetary benefits and donations are pouring in for the family of Harsha from various quarters, the mother of Vishwanath did not had the same fortune. She has received no financial aid from Hindutva groups.
According to reports, in 2015, when some members of PFI in Shivamogga were returning home after participating in the foundation day programme, they attacked Vishwanath near Gajanur village and killed him.
Protesting against the incident, the Hindutva activists called for Shimo ga bandh. They even took out a massive rally where they vowed to take care of the family of Vishwanath following his demise.
“ We will be like your children. We will take care of you”, the Hindutva activists had declared in strong spirit.
But later, their entire spirit vanished and none of them came to help the poor woman. Today, Minakshamma is living on the free ration given under the government’s food distribution programme.
The woman said that after the death of Vishwanath, his wife fell ill. The government had offered Rs. 5 lakh but majority of the money went into the treatment. She later died of Jaundice and left her son Aditya. Since then, the aging woman has been taking care of her grandson with immense difficulty. Now, to earn money, she picks up rags every day from the streets and sells it for money.
“ I am not getting an old age pension. I get 10 kg of rice from a ration shop. I pick rags, mainly plastic everyday from which I earn around Rs. 20 a day. That is use it for buying vegetables and groceries etc”, she said.
She said that she has now lost her son, daughter in law and daughter also. “I would have been living a better life if my son would have remained alive today. The electricity department disconnected power connection three years ago for not paying the electricity bill. Similarly, the water connection has also been cut for not paying bill”, the poor woman says.
A Kannada daily has reported recently that while Harsha’s family got lakhs as donation, mother of Vishawanth received nothing. The old mother is still living in a hut.
Speaking to gaurilankeshnews.com, JDS leader M. Srikant who offered some help to Minakshamma, said that he heart wept after looking at the abysmal condition of the woman.
“Since the water and power connections were cut, I made arrangements to restore the service” he said.
