REMEMBERING RAJKUMAR: President of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce H.D. Gangaraj (left) and Chamber vice-president and former president of the All-India Rajkumar Fans' Association Sa. Ra. Govindu addressing presspersons in Bangalore on Monday. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

BANGALORE: The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce is planning to build a memorial for actor Rajkumar in Bangalore after consulting representatives of the Kannada film industry.

President of the Chamber H.D. Gangaraj, and Chamber vice-president and former president of the All-India Rajkumar Fans' Association Sa. Ra. Govindu told presspersons here on Monday that Kannada cinema owed its position to Rajkumar, and the Chamber had the responsibility of doing something to preserve the thespian's memory. The proposal to build a memorial had nothing to do with the Government's reported promise to construct a monument for Rajkumar, they said.

Condolence meeting

They said the Chamber might disclose its plans for the memorial on April 19 at a condolence meeting convened by it here. Representatives of all sections of the Kannada film industry would participate. Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy would be the chief guest, and film artiste and Congress MP Ambarish would preside, they added.

They said the Chamber had requested the police to provide adequate security for the meeting which was expected to be attended by over 15,000 people.

Violence

Referring to the violence in Bangalore in the wake of Rajkumar's death, Mr. Govindu said: "It was not perpetrated by Rajkumar's fans. Please compare the nature of violence the city witnessed on Wednesday and Thursday (April 12 and 13) with that witnessed after Rajkumar was kidnapped by the brigand Veerappan." Rajkumar's fans had never attacked police personnel or ransacked government offices, he added.

He said: "As soon as Rajkumar's body was removed from the police vehicle, a person standing behind me demanded that I reveal the plans for the funeral, and threatened to kill people if I did not do so." When he turned back, there was a scuffle and the man could not be traced, Mr. Govindu said. Some persons with ulterior motives had engineered the violence, he added.

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