I dread my kids going to a Mangalore college: Top cop

“I would think twice about enrolling my children in some of the colleges in Mangalore,’’ Commissioner of Police and father of two children Seemant Kumar Singh said on Monday.

Making this admission two days after vigilantes attacked young revellers at a birthday party, the Commissioner highlighted what he described as petty politicking and a heavily polarised environment. “This is conducive for lumpen elements to repeatedly attack youth and besmirch Mangalore’s image as an education hub,” he said.

Dr M Mohan Alva of Alva’s Education Foundation, which provides education to over 16,000 students a year, said the district’s reputation of providing quality education at an affordable price had been hijacked by “reckless behaviour” of misguided elements.

“Time and again we have been exposed to such avoidable shame,” he said. “Who has assigned the task of protecting Hindu culture to these self-styled vigilantes?’’

He lashed out at the media for “irresponsible” telecast of such violent attacks.

Bhandary Foundation chairman Manjunath Bhandary said that in the aftermath of the pub attack in 2009, they had experienced its negative impact during admissions to colleges from other states. “Because, after such incidents, parents regard Mangalore as an insecure place for their children, especially for girls,” he said. When Mangalore was just beginning to regain its image as an education hub, vigilantes have gone berserk again thrashing girls, he said.