The Hindu

Bangaore, Oct 3: Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said in Mysore on Monday that the State Government had decided to abide by an order of the Karnataka High Court of March 2006 directing the Government to protect the religious rights of the people and maintain law and order at the famous Bababudangiri shrine in Chikmagalur district. This stand of the Chief Minister would translate into a ban this year on the controversial "Shoba Yatra" which is organised as a precursor to the Datta Jayanthi celebrations. In 2004 and 2005 the N. Dharam Singh Government did not allow the shoba yatra to take place.

He said that the yatra would not be allowed as there was every likelihood of the event resulting in a law and order problem.

The Chief Minister has stuck to the statement of Home Minister M.P. Prakash who made a similar statement a few days ago.

Secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in charge of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh K. Narahari and BJP MLA C.T. Ravi, who is in the forefront of the Datta Jayanthi and the shoba yatra programmes, told The Hindu that the Chief Minister could not make such suo motu statements. It would be appreciated if such important decisions were taken at the coordination committee meeting of the two parties and this had also been abundantly made clear to him by State unit president of the BJP Sadananda Gowda. "We are committed to the shoba yatra and shall go ahead with our plans."

The statement of the Chief Minister has come as a shock to the BJP which as part of the Janata Dal (Secular)-led coalition in Karnataka believes that it has a say in the matter. On its part, the Janata Dal (S) is firm that religion should be kept away from politics and that the two political parties have come together with development of the State as their focus.

The Chief Minister also said, "the Government wants a peaceful solution on this issue and any one who creates disturbance in the area will be dealt with seriously." The Government has taken elaborate steps for maintenance of peace during the Datta Mala programmes that began at Bababudangiri hills today.

It is only in recent years that the shoba yatra has been organised. Its larger aim is to mobilise people and then take them in a procession all the way to Bababudangiri during the Datta Jayanthi celebrations held on December 2, 3 and 4.

The yatra is held on December 3 and, as per the original scheme, it was organised only in Chikmagalur town. Interestingly, the previous Dharam Singh dispensation had banned the Shoba yatra in 2004 and 2005, while the previous Congress Government of S.M. Krishna had permitted the yatra for four continuous years from 2000. The then Law Minister D.B. Chandre Gowda hailed from Chikmagalur district.