THE FINE PRINT

ON 19 MARCH 2005, thousands came out on the streets of Udupi, in coastal Karnataka, to protest a gruesome incident that had shaken the region a week earlier.

- MEGHANA CHOUKKAR

Not far from the city centre, Hajabba and Hasanabba, a father-son duo of cattle traders, were waylaid by a mob led by the Hindu Yuva Sene, who beat the two Muslim men for hours, stripped them naked and paraded them while bystanders watched. In the days that followed, many protest marches were held in the region. Reporting on the protest in Udupi on 19 March, Udayavani, the most popular Kannada daily in coastal Karnataka, published a photograph of a Muslim protester holding up a green flag bearing a crescent and star. It ran alongside a loud headline: “This is not in Pakistan; it The story of this alternative newspaper, defending its existence in a hostile political and media landscape, offers an insight into independent journalism in India outside English and Hindi media. is in Udupi!” The caption below the photograph identified it as a Pakistani flag and claimed that “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans were heard throughout the protest procession. Two other local newspapers, Vijaya Kirana and Karavali Ale, published similarly provocative headlines, suggesting a conspiracy to create a “mini-Pakistan” in Udupi and speculating whether the protesters were seeking support from Pakistan.