Speakers at a harmony meet, organised during Deepavali, here stressed the need to uphold humanity, especially in the coastal region.
The Department of Kannada and Culture, the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, and Kalkura Foundation had organised the meet at the Town Hall on Sunday. People of different faiths participated in it.
Gopal B. Hosur, Inspector-General of Police, Western Range, said that maintenance of law and order was the responsibility of all and not the police alone. The police could only provide logistic support, he said.
All major festivals in Dakshina Kannada were celebrated without any untoward incidents this season through people’s cooperation. It appeared that people were fed up with such incidents that disturbed peace in the district.“When there is peace in society, its beneficiaries are students, business people, daily wage-earners, and other sections of society. People of the district should sustain the cordial relations,” he said.
Father Anil D’Souza, director, Indian Catholic Youth Movement, Mangalore Diocese, called upon the people to understand one another and live in harmony.
He said that “go puja” performed during Deepavali was a reflection of the essence of Indian culture. Deepavali was “habbagala habba”. M.B. Abdul Rehman, president, Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy, said love towards others should emerge from the heart. Islam preached that one should not allow his neighbour to suffer from hunger. There should be mutual cooperation among people, unmindful of religious differences. Sri Datta Gurudevananda Swamiji of Odiyoor Math said that Deepavali spread the message of human values. The Almighty was one and omnipresent. It was essential that each person respected the other and helped in maintaining cordial relations in society, he said.
Pradeep Kumar Kalkura, president, Dakshina Kannada Sahitya Parishat, said that all religions upheld peace. Dakshina Kannada was the land of multi-religions and multi-languages. It was the responsibility of everyone to carry forward the cordial relations that existed in the coastal region since long, he said. Earlier, a multi-language “Kavi goshthi” was held there.
Mr. Kalkura said that political leaders were invited to participate in such pujas because they represented nature’s worship. Elected representatives should explore the possibility of protecting the biodiversity in the coastal region while taking up various development activities. Yaji Yaksha Mitra Mandali staged Yakshagana “Samagra Bheeshma”.
