Defeat those who are politicising gods and spoiling harmony: Prakash Raj

Mangaluru, Dec 12: The walk for amity launched by Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister B Ramanath Rai at Farangipete in Bantwal taluk earlier in the day culminated at Mani in Puttur taluk covering about 22 km on Mangaluru-Bengaluru National Highway 75.

Hundreds of Congress workers, Left wing activists, representatives of Raita Sangha and other social organisations took part in it.

Though Mr. Rai got tired after walking 12 km in four hours, he retained his spirit as he reached Melkar Junction at 2 p.m. This was the first break for Mr. Rai, who started the walk at Farangipet.

This was the second time that Mr. Rai has taken part in a walk organised by the Congress. In 2013, Mr. Rai was among a few Congress leaders to walk 44 km during the party’s padayatra to Ballari in protest against illegal mining in the State.

“It is arduous. But for a cause I am ready to take this strain,” Mr. Rai said and added that a regimen of physical exercise was helping him take up such a walk.

Sporting black walking footwear, Mr. Rai walked briskly for a while from Farangipet. Then, he slowed down and took the help of two Congress activists in his further journey. His slow walking led a group of walkers stay with Mr. Rai, while other participants moved ahead. This also led to the programme getting delayed by nearly two hours.

While Congress MLAs and MLCs preferred to walk only a few metres during the walk, Mr. Rai walked the entire distance. “This is the word that I gave to the people following the communal incidents in the district. I have acted accordingly,” Mr. Rai said.

Expressing happiness over the overwhelming support for the padayatra, Mr. Rai said that this was a display of the strength of the people who are for communal harmony. “We may fight elections on our agendas and principles. But when it comes to maintaining communal harmony, we are one,” said Mr. Rai, who was glad with the support that he received from the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Raita Sangha and other social organisations for the padayatra. He did not wish to comment on the opposition to the padayatra from the Social Democratic Party of India and the United Muslim Organisations.

There were a few others who walked the entire distance. It included All India Congress Committee member P.V. Mohan, Democratic Youth Federation of India State president Muneer Katipalla and 70-year-old Sundaranna from Panemangaluru. The Congress activists had arranged for water, watermelon and curds for the walkers and the security personnel all along the route.

Superintendent of Police Sudheer Kumar Reddy C.H. and Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil S. covered the distance in a vehicle even as they oversaw security arrangements.

Defeat communal forces: Prakash Raj

Speaking during the valedictory celebrations of the walk, multilingual actor Prakash Raj urged people to raise their voices against persons trying to engineer communal trouble.

“You need not be spoon-fed. You all know the persons who are trying to spoil communal harmony. You also know the harm they will cause if they are elected,” Mr. Raj said. 

He added that those politicising gods should not be encouraged. The actor said people were not fools and they knew the forces that were engineering communal riots, be it in Uttara Kannada or Rajasthan. He said while murdering a person was condemnable, it was sinful to politicise the murder of a person.

Mr. Raj said the goal of the padayatra was to stand against forces that profess murder for a murder.

Minister for Food and Civil Supplies U.T. Khader; Congress MLAs J.R. Lobo, T. Shakuntala Shetty, K. Vasantha Bangera, and B.A. Mohiuddin Bawa; MLC Ivan D’Souza; CPI (M) leader G.V. Srirama Reddy; CPI leader Siddanagouda Patil; Democratic Youth Federation of India State committee president Muneer Katipalla, some zilla panchayat members of the Congress, and Congress councillors participated in the walk.

More than 1,000 police personnel had been deployed to ensure peaceful conduct of the padayatra. A KSRTC bus was reportedly stoned near Farangipet during the walk.

Mr. Rai had planned the walk in September following communal violence at Kalladka and B.C. Road which claimed two lives in June–July. The government had not allowed the event then.