A poster proclaiming the Pumpwell flyover in Mangaluru as ‘Veer Savarkar flyover’ appeared on Thursday, just days after the controversy over naming a flyover in Bengaluru after VD Savarkar. A similar poster in Mangaluru had appeared earlier this week, and police officials stated that it was removed on Wednesday. However, the vinyl poster made an appearance once again on Thursday.
Next to the poster, graffiti with the words ‘Bajrang Dal’ was found painted in orange colour on the parapet of the flyover walls in Pumpwell and Thokottu.
Speaking to The News Minute, Vishwa Hindu Parishad's divisional secretary Sharan Pumpwell said that the banner ‘may have been’ put up by one of their activists. "Even if someone has put up, there is nothing wrong with it, Veer Savarkar is a freedom fighter. The pumpwell flyover must be named after him," he said.
Mangaluru's lone Congress MLA UT Khader reacted to the incident and said if there were to be any changes to the name of the flyover, it should be named after Jain guru Mahaveera. “It seems that those who named the flyover after VD Savarkar do not have knowledge about history. The huge kalasha (shrine) which was at Pumpwell Circle was installed in the presence of Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade. Naming the flyover after Savarkar, is an insult to Mahaveera who always has propagated peace and harmony,” he told the media.
The shrine was displaced during the construction of the flyover. Khader also urged the police to identify the miscreants who put up the banner and graffiti and take action against them.
The flyover naming controversy was triggered after the state government’s decision to rename Yelahanka flyover after Savarkar was met with opposition in Bengaluru. The inauguration ceremony scheduled for May 28 was eventually postponed after required approvals were not readied in time by the civic body – Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
According to UT Khader, outfits who wanted to make a statement, dragged Mangaluru’s Pumpwell flyover inaugurated five months ago into the ‘naming controversy’.
The flyover in Pumpwell, which was commissioned in 2009, was inaugurated on January 31 2020, more than ten years later. During the decade from 2010 to 2020, the flyover was a source of conflict between the Congress and the BJP in Mangaluru.
Meanwhile, local residents near Thokkottu flyover reported another banner naming the flyover as ‘Rani Abbakka’ flyover. Similarly a banner renaming the Central Maidan or Nehru Maidan as ‘Koti Chennaya Central Maidan’ were also found on the grounds on Wednesday.
Story by Story Infinity (Subs and Scribes Media Ventures LLP.)