Chief Whip Ivan to Host ‘Diwali and Bavaikyathe’ at Kadri Temple

Chief Whip Ivan to Host ‘Diwali and Bavaikyathe’ at Kadri Temple

Mangaluru: To celebrate the Diwali in a grand manner, competitions for students from 8th to 12th standard will be held on the theme of “Diwali and Bavaikyathe”, at the Kadri Shri Manjunatheshwar Temple premises on October 29, said the Chief Whip of Karnataka legislative assembly Ivan D’Souza in a press meet held at the MCC premises here on October 23.

Addressing the mediapersons Ivan said that to celebrate the festival a 50 members team has been formed. On October 29, at 3:00 pm various competitions will be held. We have invited more than 100 students to deliver a speech on Diwali. The Goodudeepa and drawing competitions will be held on the same day. In the Goodudeepa competition, there will be two categories modern and traditional. More than 300 students will take part in the Goodudeepa competition. Already 60 students have registered their names. All the participants will be given gifts and participation certificates.

To mark the Diwali celebrations, distribution of rice will be held. We will distribute 5Kg rice each to 1000 people and the District Minister In-charge B Ramanath Rai will inaugurate the rice distribution programme. On October 29, we will distribute 400 eyeglasses to the needy people. The stage programme will be inaugurated by the Swamiji of Shri Ramakshetra Kanyadi Dharmastala Shri Shri Shri Brahmananda Saraswati Swamiji, Bishop of Mangaluru Dr Aloysius D’Souza and Moulana Zafar Sadiq Faizi. Mayor Harinath will preside over the programme. Minister for Food and Civil Supplies U T Khader, former minister Abhaychandra Jain, MLAs J R Lobo, Moideen Bava, Shakunthala Shetty, Vasanth Bangera, MUDA chairman Kodijal Ibrahim, A J Shetty, A Sadananda Shetty, Yenepoya Abdullah Kunhi, presidents of various academies local leaders, local entrepreneurs, officers, MCC council members and religious leaders will take part in celebrations.

Ivan further said, “My aim is to bring unity among the people from all walks of life. The programme will be telecasted live through local channels from 3 PM to 10 pm”.

When asked about the celebration of Tipu Jayanti after a strong opposition from the people, Ivan said, “It is the decision of the state government. Yes, many people are not happy about the celebration but we cannot go against the government. The government will take all the necessary measures during the Tipu Jayanti celebrations”.

When asked about the assault on Milagres Principal Fr Michael Santhumayor and why even after giving warnings to the student 18 times the College authorities did not take any action, Ivan said, “I am personally ashamed of the incident. We strongly condemn the attack on the principal. We are all educated and we respect our teachers. In school, the teachers teach us discipline and prepare us to be good citizens. If a student takes the law into his hands and assaults the principal it is a serious crime. He should be arrested and no sympathy should be shown towards such students. He also said that the police should check the licenses of all the students riding two-wheelers and four-wheelers since many students bring vehicles to the school and colleges without a license. Such students should also be severely punished.

Ibrahim Kodijal, Amrit Kadri and others were also present.