Beltangady: Rightful Recognition for Tulu – Meeting Deliberates Plan of Action

Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady (SP)

Beltangady, Apr 16: President of Vishwa Tulu Sammelan and Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari, Dr D Veerendra Heggade, informed that it has been decided to bring pressure on the union government through various methods, towards getting Tulu language its rightful place in the eighth schedule of the constitution. He was speaking to reporters after holding consultations with people’s representatives at Dharmasthala on Friday April 15 over ways and means to get Tulu language its due.

“The demand for including Tulu in the eighth schedule of the constitution is several decades old. A number of petitions were submitted to the union government through the state government. The central government had formed a committee led by Seetakant Mohapatra to consider inclusion of Tulu, Bodo, Maithili, Santali and Dogri languages in the eighth schedule. But except Tulu, the other four languages succeeded in getting central government’s nod for their inclusion in the constitution,” he narrated.

He said that Tulu, being identified as a minority language, represents a unique culture of Bhootaradhne, Paddanas, etc. He recollected that the Vishwa Tulu Sammelan convened from December 10 to 13, 2009 at Ujire, had also urged the central government to include Tulu in the eighth schedule.

Karnataka government has again taken up the issue now with the union home ministry. People speaking Tlulu are settled in coastal region of Karnataka in addition to Kodagu, Chikmagalur, Shimoga, Kasargod district in Kerala, apart from Mumbai. The number of people speaking Tulu exceeds one crore. People having some other language as their mother tongue also use Tulu for their daily dealings in these regions, Heggade said.

Permission has been given to teach Tulu as the third language up to the tenth standard in the coastal districts. Software of Tulu script has also been released. Kuppam University in Andhra Pradesh has provided for PhD research in Tulu. The state government has accepted this as a recognized language. Mangalore Akashvani has been beaming Tulu programmes since the last three decades. Tulu dictionary has seen six publications. Heggade said that MP, D V Sadanand Gowda, with the support of Oscar Fernandes, Moily, and Sorake, has been trying to convince the union government to give Tulu its due. State MPs will shortly submit a petition, urging the central government to include Tulu in the eighth schedule, and former Prime Minister, Deve Gowda’s signature will be obtained at the top of this petition, Sadanand Gowda said.

State minister, Krishna Palemar, MPs, Nalin Kumar Kateel and D V Sadanand Gowda, chief whip of the opposition in the state, Abhay Chandra Jain, NRI Forum vice president, Capt Ganesh Karnik, AICC secretary, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy president, Dr Paltaday Ramakrishna Achar, MLAs, Vasant Bangera, U T Khader, Gopal Bhandary, Dr M Mohan Alva, Harikrishna Punaroor, district Kannada Sahitya Parishat president, Pradip Kumar Kalkura, and a number of other dignitaries were present.

Kadri Navaneet Shetty presented the programme. Dr B Yashovarma proposed vote of thanks.