Raksha Bandhan -Sibling Bond in Mangalore City

The auspicious festival of Raksha Bandhan depicting the love between a brother and sister always falls on the full moon day, in the month of Shravana, the holiest month for the Hindu community, as the rains are receding, sea is calming down and the weather is very pleasant. This year Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated on Tuesday, August 28 which falls tommorrow.

This is indeed a special occasion, when a sister ties a scared thread called 'Rakhi' around her brother's wrist. She prays to God for the safety of her brother and to /st1:placelead him on a good path. The brother in return feeds her sweets and blesses her with good wishes and accepts the responsibility of protecting her. In Indian tradition the frail thread of Rakhi is considered stronger than an iron chain, as it binds brothers and sisters in an inseparable bond of love and trust. Raksha Bandhan is meant not just for siblings, but for protection of any loved one. 'Raksha' means protection and 'bandhan' means bond.

This year too like the previous year, the preparations for the Raksha Bandhan festival have begin much in advance all over the country. A few days ahead of the festival, one can see colourful Rakhis in the market. Girls have started shopping and looking around for fancy Rakhis. One can see all round rakhis in all shapes, sizes, colours and forms. The sweet shops, garment shops, fancy shops are all also flooded with fanciful things to attract people indicating the gaiety and joy of the occasion.

By and large one finds Raksha Bandhan being celebrated with much gusto all over North India, but this time around the festival fever has peaked here too among the Mangaloreans. Now with other Hindu festivities the rakhi tying ritual too has become an important festival for many families in Mangalore city in the recent years.Most Hindus of Mangalore prefer to celebrate this auspicious day privately in their homes. But there are places where it is celebrated as a public ceremony where girls who don't have a brother tie the sacred rakhi around the wrist of a good friend whom she trusts thus making him a brother.

In recent years Raksha Bhandan has become more popular among the younger generation in Mangalore. All around, due to the influx of northerners into Mangalore, one finds young girls in Mangalore all excited making preparations for the festival of Raksha Bandhan, by shopping around for colourful rakhis, sweets and gifts. They have already started buying rakhis and other items required for a traditional 'Aarti Thali’. The thali is a special plate on which the rakhi is placed alongside a lamp, rice grains, sweets and vermilion which are all necessary for the ceremony.

With the Raksha Bandhan just a day away, all round one find’s there is brisk business in the sale of Rakhis. Most of the customers seen buying them are children and students. Gift shops, fancy stores and malls are filled with fancy Raksha Bandhan cards, colourful Rakhis and gift items. A walk down the streets of Mangalore one can notice as a display everywhere, beautiful rakhis hanging outside every fancy store to attract customers. One can choose from a variety of rakhis ranging from simple threads, colourful beads to designer pieces. The cost of the rakhi ranges any where from Rs 3 to Rs 50. There are also several web portals offering mega deals during the season, and Rakhis and gifts can be ordered online and delivered at a short notice this festive season.

Events leading to Sunjay Dutt's conviction

Let’s go back in time, to a glimpse into the sequence of events culminating in Sanjay Dutt's conviction of six years rigorous imprisonment by the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act TADA Court, special judge P D Kode.

March 12, 1993 a series of bomb blasts rocked Mumbai city, killing 257 people and injuring around 713. Nearly a month after the blasts on, film producers/ video owners Sameer Hingora and Hanif Kadawala were arrested. They disclosed to the police that film star Sanjay Dutt also possessesed AK-56 rifles. After this revelation CBI filed a charge-sheet against Sanjay Dutt alleging that gangster Abu Salem and his men visited Dutt in January 1993.

The charge-sheet states that Abu Salem was brought to Dutt's residence accompanied by Magnum video owner Sameer Hingora and motor-training school owner Ibrahim Musa on instructions of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's brother Annes to deliver the weapons.

The next morning the consignment arrived and they gave him three AK-56 rifles, 25 hand grenades, one 9 mm pistol and cartridges. Dutt however returned the AK-56 rifles, hand grenades and cartridges to Hanif and Samir but kept one AK-56 rifle with himself. The rifle and cartridges allegedly formed part of the consignment, which was smuggled into India at Dighi Port on 9 January, 1993.

On learning that Mumbai police were looking to question Sanjay Dutt, his father Sunil Dutt asked him to immediately return from Mauritius, where he was shooting for a film. As soon as Dutt arrived from Mauritius, police arrested him stating that the AK-56 found in his house, was from the consignment of arms smuggled into India before the blasts.

Dutt confessed to the police that while he was in Mauritius for shooting, he had instructed his friends to destroy the weapons. The rifle was then accordingly destroyed by his friends Yusuf Nullawalla, Kersi Adjenia, Rusi Mulla and Ajay Marwah. Sanjay Dutt however denied the charges that he was involved in the larger conspiracy. Although at first Dutt had admitted to the charges of owning the weapons but later he retracted the confession.

In May, 1993, Dutt was released on bail. In July 4, 1994, Dutt’s bail was cancelled and he was re-arrested on 19 April, 1993 (nearly a month after the Mumbai blasts). After spending nearly 16 months in Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, Dutt was again released on bail on Oct 16, 1995. In the year 2001 Dutt faced several queries from the court spread over four days, on the subject of his possessing the AK-56 rifle. To which Dutt flatly denied having a connection with any such event and even denied having met Abu Salem and others.

However, in 2002, the Mumbai police tapped alleged Dutt's conversation with gangster Chhota Shakeel. The conversation had references to the actor having bought a T-shirt for him, from Dubai. In fact after this incident the Shiv Sena-BJP combine in Maharashtra created a furore in the State legislature over the Bollywood star's alleged taped conversation with underworld don Chhota Shakeel. In the year 2003, Dutt informed the court that he did not know about Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel. Court exempted Dutt from personal appearance till June-end, stating he had gone abroad for stage shows with the court's permission.

After this Dutt’s bail was extended a number of times. On 28 November 2006, the Special TADA court found actor Sanjay Dutt guilty under the Arms Act of possessing an illegal weapon. He was cleared, however, of the charges of terrorism and conspiracy by the Judge Kode who said in his ruling in the open court "During my reasoning I have not found him (Sanjay) to be a terrorist."

Finally on 31 July, 2007 Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to 6 years rigorous imprisonment by Judge Kode. His aide Rusi Mulla, was however, awarded probation and is under observation for one year. Sanjay Dutt was also fined Rs. 25,000 and his probation plea was rejected. The 16 months that Dutt has already served in jail will be deducted from the sentence.

Dutt’s plea for sometime for surrender was rejected by the judge. Sanjay Dutt’s lawyer, Mr Satish Maneshinde, however, said the actor would appeal against his sentence in the Supreme Court. On August 2, 2007, Sanjay Dutt was shifted from Arthur Road jail in Mumbai to the Yerwada Jail in Pune, where Dutt will carry out the rest of his sentence.