Mangaluru: Senior Tulu writer, litterateur M K Sitaram Kulal passes away
Mangaluru: Senior Tulu writer, litterateur and former President of Tulu Sahitya Academy M. K Sitaram Kulal passed away on Sunday.
Sitaram Kulal has contributed to over 11 Tulu films and has penned over 25 songs for Tulu films.
Sitaram, a resident of Bejai of Mangaluru first entered theatre through Kannada drama ‘Dasiputra’.
He was also active for 45 years in the literature and had interestingly not charged any money for his songs, dramas and acting.
He has been conferred with several awards including ‘Tulu Ratna’, ‘Permeda Tuluve’, ‘Tulusiri’, Tulu Sahitya Ratnakara’, ‘Taulava Prashasti’ and other awards. He was also awarded the Honorary award of Tulu Sahitya Academy in 2014.
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GBA razes down 400 houses in Yelahanka, minority families including Muslims worst affected
Bengaluru: In an incident reported from the state capital, more than 3,000 people living in Fakir Colony of the Kogilu Layout near Yelahanka were rendered homeless by the officials of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) on Saturday.
The officials, who said the 400 houses were constructed on encroached land, held the operation using nine tractors and nine earthmovers, razing down the houses.
They have ousted around 90 per cent of the families who had been living in the area for more than 30 years and belong to minority communities, including Muslims from the colony.
The bereaved residents have insisted that the government had provided them land in the locality to build houses and reside. “We have all official documents as well as Aadhaar cards and voter IDs as proofs. Our source of livelihood is only manual labour,” they added.
“Many of the families had mortgaged the houses to get loans from banks, but the GBA officials have razed our houses without giving any prior notice,” they said and added, “Some of the women here are pregnant, but the officers showed no concern for such people too.”
Referring to the title deeds, the residents said that the local representatives had assured them that they would be handed the documents. “So far, however, we were not told to vacate the houses. Since the houses were unexpectedly razed, our children’s documents and other valuables in the houses have been destroyed,” the residents added angrily.
They also expressed fury about representatives failing to come to their help in times of need. “They come here only to campaign and get our votes. When questioned about the propriety of destroying the houses, the police officers assaulted us,” some of them said.
Sara Saif Saufique, one of the residents in the Fakir Colony, said, “My family has been living here for three decades, but has unexpectedly lost the house since the officers did not give us notice. They came at around 4:30 am on Saturday, when we were sleeping, and started destroying the houses.”
She said with fury, further, “The officials also forcibly evicted us from the houses, without even permitting us to gather our winterwear or blankets.”
