Mysuru:
Urging Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to intervene, a Joint Action Committee of farmers’, Dalit, pro-Kannada, environmental and progressive organisations has appealed to him to advise Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to withdraw the proposal to hold Kambala as part of Mysuru Dasara.
The committee, comprising the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Dalita Sangharsha Samithi, Parisarakkaagi Naavu (People for Environment), Bhoomi Thaayi Horata Samithi and other like-minded organisations, said the proposed event would dilute the historical, cultural and religious identity of the world-famous Mysuru Dasara.
Mysuru already witnesses huge crowds, traffic congestion, noise and air pollution and piles of garbage during Dasara owing to the growing number of programmes such as Yuva Dasara, Yuva Sambhrama, Mahila Dasara, Makkala Dasara and Raitha Dasara, it said.
The committee said Kambala was an 800-year-old traditional rural sport of Tulunadu, deeply rooted in the region’s agricultural, cultural and religious traditions. “Uprooting a regionally rooted tradition from coastal Karnataka and transplanting it into Mysuru Dasara is neither necessary nor justifiable,” it said, adding that the proposal had also drawn opposition from sections of coastal Karnataka.
Welcoming Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s suggestion that Dasara celebrations be extended to Chamarajanagar, Srirangapatna, Madikeri, Mangaluru, Tumakuru and other districts to showcase their local traditions, the committee said such an approach could genuinely transform Dasara into a ‘Nadahabba’. It also questioned the proposal on environmental and economic grounds, particularly when Karnataka is facing a severe water crisis. Bringing around 400 buffaloes and nearly 20,000 handlers, clearing 25.28 acres for slush tracks and using lakhs of litres of water for a two-day event would be “highly insensitive” amid drought conditions, it said.
With several taluks facing acute soil-moisture deficiency, depleted groundwater and crop losses, the government should prioritise farmers, drinking water and drought relief instead of spending heavily on an unnecessary event, the committee said.
It urged Rahul Gandhi to take up the issue with the Chief Minister and ensure that Mysuru Dasara’s heritage is protected rather than diluted by spectacle and extravagance.