Mangaluru: Communal harmony which is the core strength of Tulu Nadu has been under threat for some time now. People should not allow it to weaken, says honorary president of the organizing committee of Vishwa Tuluvera Parba D. Veerendra Heggade.
In his inaugural address at the three-day festival at Sahyadri college premises at Adyar, he said that there is an escalation in communal violence in some pockets of Tulu Nadu. A few are instigating communal hatred among people. If there is any problem, it should be immediately sorted out amicably. Small issues should not lead to huge clashes, he advised.
Heggade also promised to raise issues such as ban on Kambala (slush track buffalo race), inclusion of Tulu in the Eighth schedule of the constitution and the Nethravathi diversion project before the Chief minister Siddaramaiah, when he attends the valedictory of the festival on Sunday.
On the UNESCO report, which included Tulu as one of the languages under threat, Mr. Heggade said that he was confident that Tulu would not die. “It would remain forever, as more number of people started speaking the language”, he said.
Ramana Deekshitalu, chief archak, Tirumala-Tirupati Temple, MLA Mohiuddin Bawa also spoke.
Moily skips festival
Former Union minister Veerappa Moily who was supposed to inaugurate the Vishwa Tuluvera Parba, skipped the event on Friday. Earlier, the members of Sahyadri Samrakshana Sanchaya, which opposes the Yettinahole project had threatened to stage a protest at the event, if Moily happened to inaugurate it. They had said that Moily was the chief architect who proposed Nethravathi river diversion.
More number of consumer goods
At the Vishwa Tulu Parba, there were more number of consumer goods that the stalls which highlights the tradition of Tulu Nadu.
Besides, most of the chairs were empty at the inaugural function. Dakshina Kannada district-in charge minister B. Ramanath Rai, Youth and Sports minister Abhayachandra Jain too did not attend the event. Health Minister U.T Khader made a brief appearance and left the venue.
Poojary opposed festival
Earlier, former minister, Janardhana Poojary expressed unhappiness saying that the Tulu festival is only limited to a section of the people and has not taken all the communities into consideration.
