‘Kannada, Karnataka are safe, robust, respected’

After nonchalantly watching, when not silently applauding, the audacious assault on the very soul of Kannada, Kannadiga and Karnataka, the mainstream media seems to be waking up to the pregnant possibilities of parochialism.

Deccan Herald has an editorial today titled “Means of Agitation”:

“From the Gokak movement, which put up a collective fight to protect Kannada language, to the periodic struggles to gain primacy for Kannada in administration and other areas, the various pro-Kannada organisations and their protagonists had always made their point without resorting to violence. The current reign of violence and vandalism by the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) and its self-assumed role as the protector of the state and its people are alien to Kannadigas, renowned as an accommodative, peace-loving people….

“The intolerance and parochialism that these tendencies are breeding have started with language as a tool. We are all proud of our language, but one should also practise tolerance. Let us not forget that Kannada literature has the highest number of Jnanapith awardees which only goes to show that Kannada land, language and culture are safe, robust and well respected. Responsible, pro-Kannada bodies must show the way of peaceful agitation against any perceived injustice. And violence in any form which would only bring a bad name to the State and its people should be avoided. It cannot help and promote their cause in any way.”

Read the full editorial: Means of agitation

Cartoon: courtesy Keshav/ The Hindu

Also read: Karnataka Rakshana Vedike: Good, bad, sad?

Sign of an alive democracy or a sad mobocracy?

M.S. Sathyu versus Karnataka Rakshana Vedike

Thodo, phodo, hum sab tumhaare saath hain