It actually is a boiling communal cauldron which is always at the tipping point. The influx of a large muslim population from Kerala who are more orthodox (though moneyed from the Gulf) has caused great uneasiness. The Hijab & the Burkha are now the norm & that routinely spills over to classrooms where there is now tremendous friction with some Muslim girls insisting on wearing the Hijab to class when most educational institutions have a policy of not allowing religious or religion based clothing. The second part is that of a growing number of Christian fringe groups affiliated to churches in the U.S. & Australia who are pushing a conversion driven agenda. This is completely different from the large catholic presence which has been in Mangalore for a very long time with very little friction. All this has created a very fertile ground for right wing Hindu groups who are now behaving like self appointed guardians of Hinduism. Some of then are so crazy that they keep tabs on any girls (Hindu) even talking with Muslim boys, routinely intervening in what should be a private conversation. The divide is getting worse with each passing day & points of friction are only going to increase.
The above incident is not directly connected except to explain the presence of the lunatic group behind it.