‘Govt. hurting people’s emotions by removing ‘bathukamma’ from Telangana Talli statue’

BRS MLC K. Kavitha speaking at a meeting on ‘attack on Telangana existence’ in Hyderabad on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: By Arrangement

HYDERABAD

President of the Telangana Jagruthi and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K. Kavitha has alleged that Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is insulting Telangana society, its culture and disrespecting ‘bathukamma’, the cultural symbol, by removing it from the Telangana Talli statue.

Speaking at a round-table meeting on ‘attack on the Telangana culture, existence’ organised by the organisation here on Saturday, she said the Chief Minister owed an apology to the society of Telangana for terming the celebration of ‘bathukamma’ as the festival of affluent sections and upper castes.

She stated that people of Telangana had supported the Congress after AICC leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi signed the guarantee cards and assured people that they would respect them. She sought to know whether AICC leaders were aware of Mr. Reddy’s disrespect to ‘bathukamma’ by removing it from the statue of Telangana Talli.

Ms. Kavitha called for opposing any attempt to disrespect the Telangana culture as such attacks on culture would demoralise the society.

B.V.R. Chary, the sculptor who shaped the Telangana Talli statue, said that ‘bathukamma’ was the backbone of Telangana culture and it would not be possible for anybody to wipe it out. Retired bureaucrat K.V. Ramanachary said it was unfortunate that the State government itself was trying to disrespect Telangana’s culture.

Legislator of BRS S. Vani Devi said the Telangana Talli statue in use all these years was designed following a sculpture (shilpa shastra). “By depicting Telangana Talli as a poor woman, the Congress government was conspiring to hurt the emotions of people,” he added.

Former chairman of the Water Resources Development Corporation V. Prakash, former chairman of the B.C. Commission Vakulabharanam Krishnamohan Rao, poet Gogu Shyamala, Jamat-e-Islami-Hind president Hameed Mohd. Khan and others spoke.