Hubballi: A Muslim vendor, Nabisaab Killedar, is one among the six representatives from the downtrodden and working-class selected to inaugurate the 8th May Sahitya Mela, which will be held between May 27 and 28 in Karnataka’s Davanagere city.
The Mela is organised to voice out the people’s issues, especially of the working class. Talking to IANS on Monday, Basavaraj Sulibhavi, stated that about 1,000 delegates are taking part in the program.
Nabisaab Killedar, a watermelon fruit vendor’s shop was vandalised by the Hindu activists last month on the premises of the Nuggikeri temple in Dharwad, following the ruling BJP government’s stand that non-Hindu vendors are not allowed on the temple premises.
The photos and videos of the fruit shop being vandalised went viral on social media. The opposite parties have come forward to help Nabisaab Killedar and the Karnataka Police had arrested Sri Rama Sena activists in connection with the incident.
The program will be organised at Taj Palace in Davanagere. A beedi worker, construction worker, farmer, and environmental activist have also been invited to inaugurate the program along with Nabisaab Killedar.
Basavaraj Sulibhavi said that the program is held every year. Eminent personalities will make the key-note address, which is based on contemporary issues. Justice K. Chandru, a retired Judge from the Madras High Court is delivering the key-note address this time.
Veteran agrarian journalist P. Sainath is delivering a lecture on ‘Rural India Crisis’. Sudheendra Kulkarni, former strategist for L.K. Advani from Karnataka is speaking on ‘Diversity and Oppressive Violence’. Noted editor of popular Kannada daily A.S. Puttige is also taking part in the event.
The event will try to find out what country has gained and lost in the last seven decades of Independence. The constitutional crisis and the federal aspirations will also be discussed, Basavaraj Sulibhavi said.
Dr. T.N. Prakash Kammaradi will throw light on the Karnataka agricultural crisis and Nasreen Mitai will speak about the crisis and tensions faced by women belonging to the minority communities.
“We are planning to organise such events across the state. Like-minded writers’ team will be formed to get connected to the local people,” he explained.
Kavitha Krishnan, secretary All India Progressive Women’s Association, Delhi is also taking part in the event. The mela was organised online due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years. Ladai Prakashana, Kavi Prakashana Kavalaki, Chittara Kala Balaga, Dharwad, and many other thinkers and activists have joined their hands to organise the event.
The participation of Nabisaab Killedar, a fruit merchant, is intended to promote communal harmony in the state.
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