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| Matt Keith and his girl friend Emily were hauled up by protesters at a restaurant when they noticed the tattoo. (Video below) |
October 19, 2015, NewsCrunch
Goddess Yellamma hit national news on Monday after a flash protest broke out against an Australian student for sporting a Goddess Yellamma tattoo on his shin.
Matt Keith and his girl friend Emily were hauled up by protesters at a restaurant when they noticed the tattoo.
Media reports said the protesters wanted to remove the tattoo by skinning him. The police reportedly sided with the protesters, allegedly led by a BJP leader. The couple were taken to a police station where an apology letter was extracted from Matt.
A video of the fracas between Australians and the protesters has surfaced.
The main protester is seen asking Matt to remove the tattoo; the word “skinning” is not used in the conversation. Another protester asks Matt to wear a pant to cover up the tattoo. The lone policeman in the frame looks confused and nervous. He mumbles asking Matt to remove the tattoo.
The Australians in the video look far from being fearful for their life. Emily is heard screaming while an Indian friend, who is mediating, asks her to calm down in English spoken in thick Kannada accent.
At just one minute long, the video possibly does not capture the full story.
But if we what we see in it held good throughout, the controversy is overblown. The protesters could have been nicer, the Austraian could have been more sensitive and the cop could have spoken shown some spine.
Hindus do take offense when their gods are depicted on legs and slippers. Is a tattoo on the shin offensive – answer is subjective to your point of view.
A senior police officer was also quoted saying the issue was trivial. We side with that. Let Matt carry on in