At the outset I would like to draw the readers’ attention to what cultural assertion means in the real sense of the term. It is the concrete showing of oneness or locating oneself in similarities, be it lingual, national, regional, sexual (gender)and many many more things.
I have not probably seen any other culture than the Kanarites in asserting their cultural feats and common roots through all possible means. By Kanarites, I mean those hailing from the three districts viz.,South Kanara (I would be pleased if people don’t use the name Dakshina Kannada)Udupi and Kasargod in the state of Kerala and to some extent North Kanara. Why I use South Kanara and would like not to use the name of Dakshina Kannada is because the answer to this lies in the History pages. Firstly, have the three or four districts named above, anything to do with Kannada at all. Or what percent of the total population residing in these districts speak Kannada as mother tongue.
I shall be very very brief here. In the last part of the eighteenth Century A.D., Tippu Sultan, The Tiger of Mysore attacked the Kanara(s) with an intent to crush the Christian faith which he thought to be European in nature and more so an identity with the Britishers. Hence, he persecuted lakhs of Kanara Christians and killed thousands. God had different plans, he had to cut down his scale of destruction before he could reach the borders of present day Goa. His war spoils were reinstated to the Mysore Kingdom after the Rendition period. And later with Independence dawning upon India and the creation of the State of Mysore the Kanaras formed an integral part of the State.
What eludes many a brain is the fact that the first States Reorganization Committee over looked that fact that the Kanara region from Karwar to Kasargod had different language, different culture, different attitudes, etc. and divided the region into literally two states, with one district going to Kerala (Kasargod) and the other two South and North Kanaras going to the State of Karnataka, a deliberate attempt on the part of the First SRC to divide the region so as not to unite against the State machinery to demand a separate state. And as things go, a separate langauge was introduced (Kannada)as the first language (majority of the students opt for this language when some go for Hindi, Sanskrit or English)and the language thus thrust upon us took over and now more people than ever before in the Kanaras talk Kannada.
|
Our failure to assert our distinct culture failed to a great extent with respect to cultural assertion in other parts of India…
Our failure to assert our distinct culture failed to a great extent with respect to cultural assertion in other parts of India like Jharkand, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Telangana in Andhra Pradesh, Vidarbha and Sourastra in the west and so on. Their demand for a separate state didn’t stem from different identities like language or culture it was more so based on economy and polity.
Parts of south western india have always been passive in reaction and resistence. As many might be knowing there is a demand for separate state in North East Karnataka, in our own Kanara (Demand for a separate state TULUNADU) then there is the demand for Coorg Rastra.
Well most of the agitations based on cultural assertion were supported by politicians irrespective of their party affiliations but we in the Kanaras failed to come to gether under one roof. We are now in a state of panic and scattered all over the world without a common root we can call our own. And as a reaction we use all means to bring our people together, be it through internet, through Sanghs, through cultural feasts, gatherings and through Literature- in the Gulf, the Americas or very close to us in Bombay. Our discussion puts everybody very simple questions (1)Have we a common location we can call our own? (2) What is our mother tongue (in the strict sense of the term)? and many many more.
I am an expatriate myself as I reside in another part of Karnataka state what many in Kanaras call Ghati. I know how it feels to be an expatriate. People there call you as not belonging to them and people in the Kanaras call Ghati. I know its the same happening to many of my brothers and sisters in other parts of India and abroad. Let us not be very emotional on trivial things but let us also not shy ourselves from strongly asserting our culture and celebrating our distinct cultural attributes. Many many things to debate on. I would like to stop here and wait for comments from readers to develop a longer version of the paper to be followed immediately
To conclude, I would only add that we need to look into history books to find a solution to this issue. Let us not turn our backs to this issue ignoring it as yet another article pasted on the net. Suggestions are welcome.
Author: Ozmond Roshan DSouza- India
