The Hindu : Karnataka News : Procession showcases State's progress

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Saturday, Mar 12, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Procession showcases State's progress

Muralidhara Khajane

Film artistes, chariot with Bhuvaneshwari statue were major crowd-pullers

BELGAUM: The second edition of Vishwa Kannada Sammelan, that got off to a colourful start here on Friday, presented a broad picture of the progress made by Karnataka in the past 50 years.

The one-km-long procession that represented facets of life and essence of Kannada was the major attraction. The procession which commenced at 11 a.m. passed through all major roads in the city. Tableaux representing the culture and heritage of all districts drew the attention of the people. Film artistes who participated in the procession and the “silver” chariot with Bhuvaneshwari statue were major crowd-pullers. Braving the scorching sun, lakhs of people witnessed the procession.

The Marathi-speaking population have also extended all support for the event. Those who spoke to The Hindu said the State Government sanctioning Rs.100 crore for the development of the district had helped in the overall development of the city, which was deprived of funds for many years. “If the Government wants to develop Belgaum in the name of Vishwa Kannada Sammelan, let it conduct the sammelan of the kind every year,” said Panchakshari Hiremath, a newspaper vendor.

Raju Chougale is of the opinion that people were not opposed to holding the sammelan. But one should not degrade other languages fanatically. Conventions of the kind would help in understanding the rich cultural heritage of State, says Nagaraja Malhapure, a hotel employee.

S.R. Patil, an auto driver, is of the opinion that he was not opposed to the sammelan in any way, but he will be pained when somebody speaks ill of his language. “After language is meant to talk to people, not to fight”, he said.

Discontentment

Some people expressed their discontentment over the demolition of petty shops to facilitate the sammelan and demanded rehabilitation of the shop vendors.

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