Daijiworld News Network - Mangalore (MB)
Mangalore, Aug 5: A movement for formation of a separate Tulu state would be launched after unifying Kasaragod with the Tulu-speaking areas, said poet and Kasaragod unification activist Kayyara Kinhanna Rai on Friday.
Speaking at a press conference organized by the Tulu Rajya Horata Samiti said that the very being of the expression 'Tulu Nad' in circulation proved the existence of a Tulu state in the past.
Srinivas Upadhyaya of Udupi had seriously begun an agitation for a Tulu state and leaders like Kota Ramakrishna Karanth too had dreamt of an own state for Tuluvas, he further said.
"I too had initially written poems in Tulu and got them published. It was later on that I began writing in Kannada and Sanskrit. The concept of Mother Tulu is related to the matrilinear - called "Aliya katt" in Tulu - system, which is a significant contribution from Tulu to the Indian cultural canvas," he opined.
Former Lok Sabha member for Kasaragod Rammanna Rai also spoke and said the Tulu language and culture spread over areas between the Chandragiri and Kallianpur rivers should be preserved.He pointed out that around 1949, Hampankatta, the heart of Mangalore city, was teeming with Tulu-speaking people and only Tulu was heard around the area. Today, it has been reduced to a small number, which situation should be properly assessed and a suitable solution should be found, he insisted.
Tulu Rajya Horata Samiti convener Dinesh demanded that personnel well-versed in Tulu should be appointed in the railway stations in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kasaragod districts, the Mangalore airport be renamed Tulunad International Airport and the new railway service between Mangalore and Bangalore be named Tulunad Express.
Samiti treasuer Harsharaj Shetty, and members Perur Jaru and Jayaram Rai were also present at the press conference.
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