Mangaluru: The District Youth Congress under the leadership of President Mithun Rai, held a “Janajagrithi Padayatra” from Mangalore City Corporation to Kankanady Market Ground here, on September 29.

The rally began from Lalbagh and culminated at the Kankanady market ground. District Minister in-charge Ramanath Rai flagged off the rally.

In his welcome address, Youth Congress leader Mithun Rai said, “Mangaluru is said to be the most dignified and civilised city of Karnataka. The Congress party does not discriminate people based on caste, creed, sex or religion. Presently the beautiful city of Mangaluru is under the fear of “Immoral Policing”. Today this “Janajagrithi Padayatra” has been conducted to create awareness among the people that no such immoral policing acts will be tolerated by Mangaloreans. This march is a warning to those involved in immoral policing.”

He further said that Mangaluru is known to be the hub of education where people from all over the country and world come to gain knowledge. “The incidents of immoral policing have created a negative impact about our great city. Communal clashes discourage people to send their children for education to our district. Some anti social elements are involved in taking the law into their hands and assaulting the youth without being aware of the consequences. The Congress party has always fought against anti social elements in the society. This unique rally is a warning to those who are against the development of the city and to those who sow the seeds of hatred among the people of the city and create communal clashes.”

Addressing the peace rally, director of Father Muller Charitable Institutions, Fr Richard Coelho said that we need unity harmony and peace for the development of the country. “Violence or disharmony is a threat for the development of the society. Anyone who creates and supports violence is a sick person. We need to fight for justice without fighting amongst ourselves; we need to unite people with love and peace. For harmony, we need to love our neighbour as our own, we need to forgive our brothers and sisters who do wrong. Instead of correcting others, we need to correct ourselves; when we show one finger to others, four fingers will point at us. We are all one and creation of one God. Let us all work for peace and harmony in our society and country. Our district is known for education. We are all intellectuals; let all eliminate violence from the society.”

Swamiji of Ballimattu Hosmar Math Sri Vikhyathananda addressing the gathering said that in this world everyone wants to live in peace and it should come from our heart. He recalled the story of a Muslim woman who was sick and not able to recover after the surgery; someone had said that if the Swamiji donates blood, the woman will be healed. According to that, the Swamiji donated his blood and the woman immediately recovered; until this day, she remembers the person who had donated the blood. He further continued and said that his driver is a Muslim and his wife had brought a new pot. When the Swamiji came to their house on the drivers request to have food, his wife cooked the food at 12 in the night in the new pot and served it to the Swamiji. “We are not from America or Pakistan. We are all Indians of this soil. Our forefathers were Hindus, so it is our duty to respect our brothers and sisters. We are all one, we need to follow our constitution with the mantra of peace, as our country is known for peace. There are bad people in every religion and also good people in every community. We should follow our Dharma but most of all, humanity should be our religion. We should let all live in peace.”

MLC Ivan D’Souza said, “India is a secular country. Citizens have the right to follow any religion, caste or creed. During my school days, we were all friends, there was no question of Hindu, Muslim or Christian. Today, that peace in this beautiful city has been destroyed. The recent incident in Attavar has put us to shame. During my recent visit to the US, I came across many Mangaloreans who asked me questions whether people are safe in Mangaluru. I felt ashamed in front of them. Is this our culture? Do we discriminate people on the basis of religion? Being the city of intellectuals, we are now facing issues of communalism.”

Mayor Jacintha Alfred, MLA Moideen Bava, deputy Mayor Purushotham Chitrapura, Sashidhar Hegde, Praveen Chandra Alva and other Congress leaders were also present.

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