Udupi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah exhorted on the need for a society free of caste bias adding that such discriminations were created by a few in the society for their own vested interests.
He was speaking at the launch of the Sri Barkur Mahasamsthanam at Rajya Bhuthala Pandya Vedike, Barkur here on Friday, April 21.
“I never was an atheist. Some people may say that I am one. I believe in one God which is everywhere,” said Siddaramaiah stressing that one need not search for God to find answers to their prayers. I believe in humanity and not religious activities”, he said.
Siddaramaiah also said that he believed in the teachings of Basavanna quoting a line from a Vachana, “Iva yarava iva nammava, iva nammava’. Basavanna’s Anubhava Matapa is a basic model for all political systems like Rajya Sabha, Vidhana Sabha, Cabinet and so on, he analysed.
Siddaramaiah also lauded the Bunt community on the occasion terming them as progressive being followers of the matrilineal system. “After they lost the lands due to the land reforms, they ventured out to Mumbai, Bengaluru, Middle East and the Gulf and etched a name for themselves in different businesses. The Bunts community preferred to create jobs rather search for jobs. They created jobs for others too,” he opined.
On a concluding note, the chief minister said that people should follow Dharma and be good to others.
On the occasion, four personalities were felicitated with the Raja Bhutala Pandya awards. They were former Lokayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde, CMD of All Cargo Logistics Mumbai Shashi Kiran Shetty, President of Billava Mahamandala Mumbai Jaya C Suvarna and Professor of Kannada Department of Mangaluru University Dr. K Chinnappa Gowda.
Sri Gurusiddaraja Yogindra Mahaswami of Moorusavira Matt, Hubli and Vidyachaspathi Sri Dr. Vishwasanthosha Bharathi Swamiji of Barkur graced the occasion. Raja Kerala Varma Empire family of Pandala Shabharimala, District In- charge Minister Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister for Muzarai Rudrappa Manappa Lamani, MLAs Vinay Kumar Sorake and Shakunthala Shetty, Parliamentary Secretary for Chief Minister Sadananda Shetty, Barkur Sudhakar Shetty, former MLA Appanna Hegde, Shashikiran Shetty, Varadaraja Shetty, Maladi Ajith Kumar Rai, Mangaluru and others were present.
Manohar Prasad, Chief of Udyavani compered the programme.
