Communal and linguistic harmony are the hallmarks of the Hyderabad Karnataka region, academician Shivaganga Rumma said in Bidar on Friday.
Speaking at the 15th district Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, Prof. Rumma said that though the region was plagued by ills such as illiteracy and poverty, it was a role model for the whole country for its rich tradition of maintaining communal and linguistic harmony. She credited this to its rich heritage.
“The whole world is tilting towards right wing ideologies. From Trump, to Syria to Myanmar, we can find examples of how pro-religion government and ideologies are growing while other issues are being neglected,” she said.
She lamented that many intellectuals were avoiding taking a stand on such issues and held that the ruling class often tends use culture and the arts as peace time weapons to further its cause.
“We have to realise that life of the common man was bigger than most literature. Yet, all our classics like Kaviraj Marga and Pampa Bharata have upheld virtues like tolerance and acceptance. They included the best of Kalamukha, Ajivika, Buddhist and other ideologies,” she said.
