Mangaluru: If banners and flex create public nuisance and result in more garbage in other cities, in Mangaluru they have led to communal tension and political unrest of late, especially during polls.
Often one group damages or sets fire to a banner of another group or community, setting off the tension. "Damaging each other's banners, buntings or flex is a part of the communal tension in the region. Students indulge it on campuses and others on the streets. Communal forces of both groups are involved," says Karnataka Komu Sauhardha Vedike district president, Suresh Bhat, adding that this is a recent development and part of the growing polarisation of the region. "Stopping this is will be very difficult," he warns.
Fed up with the violence that breaks out over the banners and hoardings, environmentalists here are working to put a stop to "banner politics."
"We have seen many incidents of banners and cutouts being damaged ending up in police stations. We will submit a memorandum to the police requesting it not to entertain such complaints," says National Environment Care Federation (NECF) state secretary, Shashidhar Shetty.
Noting that plastic banners, cutouts and flex are officially banned, he argues that when most are put up illegally , no complaint of damage to them can be accepted. "The police should stop receiving complaints of the damage to illegal cutouts and flex. Only if someone has a letter from the local administration permitting the banners and hoardings should it consider the case," he adds, reasoning that this may also decrease the tension caused by "banner fights" in the city.
