Leaders across party lines come together to fight communalism

Mangalore, August 22: In order to carry out a combined fight against the Sangh Parivar in the backdrop of Morning Mist Homestay attacks, leaders cutting across party lines have come together under the banner of 'Karavali Souharda Sangharsha Samithi'.

Addressing media persons at a press meet in Mangalore on Wednesday, B Ramanath Rai, President, District Congress, who has been chosen as the President of the Committee, said that the platform is apolitical and aims at bringing back peace in the coastal region. The Committee is not confined to homestay attacks alone and will oppose any untoward incident on communal lines by any group in the future, he said.

B Madhava, District Secretary, CPI(M), and Chief Secretary of the Committee, said that a special legal cell has been formed by the Committee consisting of Yashwanth Maroli, T C M Sharif, B Ibrahim, Ivan D'Souza, and Satish Kumar Bantwal, to take up matters of moral policing and communal disharmony in the region legally. Attempts to create awareness among people against communal forces would also be made by the Committee he said.

M G Hegde, JDS leader and member of the Committee said that Mangalore's image has taken a beating in sectors such as finance, education and tourism greatly because of the incident. The Committee has been formed with an aim to provide a permanent platform to oppose and check communal disturbances in the region, he said.

Responding to a query on why no members from the BJP have been included in the committee, Mr. Hegde said: “We have neither approached BJP, nor have we included KFD”.

M B Sadashiva, JDS leader, also expressed concerns over the communalization of coastal region and said that the true culture of the peaceful Dakshina Kannada is in danger.

As part of its anti-homestay attack campaign, the Committee will hold a protest rally on September 4 in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office at 11 am.

Amarnath Shetty, former minister, Ivan D'Souza, K R Shriyan, M B Sadashiva, and P Sanjeeva have been named Vice Presidents of the Committee. PV Mohan, Shashiraj Shetty, H V Rao, Rita Noronha, Chandrakala Nadavara and Sushil Noronha have been named Secretaries. K Yadav Shetty has been chosen as the Treasurer.