Govt to organise events to foster nationalism

Mangaluru: The Kannada and culture department will celebrate ‘Amritha Bharatige Kannadarati’, a programme to commemorate nationalism as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav in Mangaluru, Sullia and Ullal on May 28, the birth anniversary of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Various programmes, including processions, cultural events, talks and screening of documentaries, to instil patriotism among people, have been planned at three places, as part of the programme to be held through the department.
Kannada and culture minister V Sunil Kumar called upon people to participate in the programmes voluntarily. The minister also held a preparatory meeting in this regard, at the Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat on Tuesday.
“At a time when the nation is celebrating the 75th anniversary of Independence, there is a need for spreading awareness on the contributions of Karnataka during the freedom struggle. Thousands of people from Karnataka have sacrificed their lives for Indian Independence. There are hundreds of historical events related to Karnataka’s contribution to the struggle, that are yet to enter the pages of history. Those sagas need to be taught to the young generation, through meaningful programmes,” the minister said.
The department has already published a book with 75 historic places, where people led the fight for Independence in Karnataka. “We have chalked out plans for the ‘Amritha Bharatige Kannadarati’ programme, on the birth anniversary of Savarkar on May 28,” he said. In addition, ‘horatada neladalli ondu dina’, a two-week long picnic programme for people, to various historic places in Karnataka that witnessed the freedom struggle, will be commenced from July 1. People, including students, will be taken to Issuru, Surapura, Amara Sullia, Vidhurashwattha, Kittur, Nandagada and other historic places, and information on the places will be shared, he said.
A ratha yatra will commence from Mysuru, Bengaluru, Belagavi and Kalaburagi from August 1. “We will ask people to hoist the tricolour in their homes for three days from August 9,” the minister said.