Ghettos in city

It''s happening right before our eyes, but we either pretend not to see or, worse, say something nasty, or bigoted and get on with our lives.
One time cosmopolitan Bangalore is slowly being dotted with ghettos of various minorities, mostly religious, in some instances linguistic. And it bodes nothing but tragedy in the near future.
In the last few years, many of Bangalore''s residential areas boasting large sections of the majority community have turned hostile towards minorities, refusing to rent out homes, apartments, even office space.They don''t even sell empty sites to minorities in some of these localities.
The reasons of course are many, starting with Partition and running through the Babri, the Mumbai blasts, the Godhra and Akshardham outrage and what not.
Unfortunately, this tarring of minorities with a broad brush is creating demographic changes with far-reaching implications.
Vast stretches of the former Cantonment, especially Benson Town, Frazer Town, Cleveland Town, Pottery Town, Da''Costa Layout, Richmond Town, Langford Town, historically minority bastions, are increasingly turning insular.
In many localities of Bangalore, especially old pockets, it''s not just Muslim or Christian, Tamil or Gujarati... but the backlash, that is worrying.
Take what''s happening to that vast stretch between Russel Market and Queen''s Road, Over the years, this whole area has turned into Bangalore''s biggest ghetto. Cockburn Road skirting the CSI Hospital, Thimmaiah Road, Armstrong Road have all been encroached upon by garages, shops even places of worship. Not even Jayakar Jerome can enter this area and demolish the illegal structures.
Ghettos are not necessarily minority in nature. As communities get polarised into different localities, the urge to fly their flag, no matter what the colour becomes all encompassing. And so we witness the bigotry of various communities grabbing park, playground and sidewalk space in their respective areas to build their places of worship, symbols of community that no one dare destroy.
Across Bangalore, there''s this upheaval, especially in the old areas, even as newer areas like Koramanagala, Indiranagar, BTM Layout, JP Nagar, Raj Mahal Vilas and other areas resonate with the cosmopolitanism of citizens many of whom have migrated from other cities in recent years.
This is the ideal.
Except that Bangalore which did not have the burden of old walled enclaves like Delhi and Ahmedabad has in some areas retrogressed to just that.
It''s high time intellectuals, sociologists, even religious leaders studied this phenomenon and debated this sad tumble into the middle ages.
The last thing Bangalore requires is a couple of ghettos in its midst.