Moral-policing a part of vote bank politics'

August 10, 2012

Mangalore, August 10: Through moral policing, religious groups are trying promote their ideology and cause division in the society. It has become the trend these days. Politics and religion are being interwoven and being used to divide the people just to gain votes, said Francis Colaco, Retired Director – General of Police, Karnataka.

He addressed the gathering on 'Moral Policing – A Blot on Indian Democracy', a platform for the citizens and youngsters of Mangalore to voice out their opinions relating to the recent attack on youngsters at Morning Mist home-stay. It was jointly organised by Catholic Association of South Kanara (CASK), Women's Forum and Human Rights Cell of St. Aloysius College (SAC) and All India Catholic Union Federation (AICUF) on August 10 at Eric Mathais Hall, SAC, Mangalore.

“We seem to be regressing towards a primitive and medieval kind of life. We have to be broad in our outlook. One cannot impose himself on others. As long as there is decency and decorum, others cannot object our actions. No one has the right to say that it is not a part of our culture,” said Mr. Colaco.

He said that there was nothing objectionable in the birthday party that had taken place at the home-stay. The vigilante organisations such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal who were involved in the 2008 communal riots and those in the infamous 2009 pub attack belonged to the same group. Most of them involved in the home-stay assault were hoodlums and anti-social elements, and we need to strongly condemn such acts,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Fr. Swebert D'Silva, Principal of SAC, expressed his distress on the condition of youngsters in the city. The confidence level in youngsters following the attack has receded enormously.

“Where is the freedom? How could they grow? Youngsters can progress only if they are freely allowed to display their talents. If the police and government were strict enough to take the law into their hands, such a ghastly incident would not have taken place”, he said.

He criticised the way Manjula, Chairperson of State Women's' Commission, had attacked the morality of the victims and their families in her report on the incident that occurred on July 28.

“No sympathy has been shown in favour of the youngsters. There is not a single mention of the group of moral police that attacked and assaulted them. If we don't condemn such acts of violence, they'll continue to grow”, he stressed.

Fr. Swebert said that freedom was good, but it did not mean 'license'. Freedom always comes with responsibility. One should always take account of his/her actions and move forward responsibly. We should strive to live in harmony, and pledge to make our city a safe place, he said.

A discussion forum was held, where members of the audience raised questions regarding the topic. In reply to one such question, Mr. Colaco said that Manjula, Chairperson of State Women's Commission belonged to the ruling party in the state and stated that the Commission's report was “totally influenced by the party, and non-condemnatory of the offenders”.

Terming her as prejudiced and bias, he said that her sanity and impartiality needed to be questioned. “Is she trying to protect the interest of the public or is she trying to protect the interest of the party?” he voiced.

David Pais passed a resolution against the attack on youngsters and the report.

Jason Joseph, a student of SAC, voiced out his opinion on the same.

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Historic Milestone: Tulu script gains global digital recognition with inclusion in Unicode 16

News Network

September 9,2024

Mangaluru: The Unicode Consortium has announced the inclusion of Tulu script in its latest version, Unicode 16. This update adds 80 characters to the Unicode Standard, marking a significant milestone for the Tulu-speaking community.

According to officials, the journey to this achievement began in 2001 when a member of the Unicode Consortium helped fix the Kannada script in Unicode and simultaneously advocated for the inclusion of Tulu.

Despite initial misunderstandings with the Tulu Academy in Mangaluru, the groundwork was laid for future developments. Initially, three Tulu experts had worked on the subject, including S A Krishnaiah, a Tulu scholar.

"In 2014, efforts to create a Tulu Wikipedia gained momentum, leading to its launch on August 6, 2016. By 2017, the Tulu Academy recognised the need for Tulu Unicode, forming a committee to finalise the characters with technical guidance. Concurrently, another proposal for the Tilari script was submitted," Krishnaiah said.

After extensive correspondence, the script was officially added to Unicode under the name Tulu-Tigalari. While there are minor differences between the Tulu Academy's list and the finalised Unicode version, most characters have been included. Notably, Tulu digits and some diacritic marks necessary for writing Sanskrit in Tulu script were added, he said.

According to him, the inclusion of the Tulu script in Unicode will have a significant positive impact on digital communication for Tulu speakers, including enhanced digital presence. Tulu speakers can now use their native script across various digital platforms, including social media, websites, and messaging apps, fostering a stronger online presence.

The availability of Tulu in Unicode will facilitate the creation of educational materials, such as textbooks and online courses, in the Tulu script, supporting language learning and literacy, he said.

The development of Unicode-encoded fonts, keyboard software, and converters will streamline the use of Tulu in digital communication, making it easier for users to type and share information in their native script, he said.

Being part of the Unicode Standard gives Tulu global recognition, encouraging more software and application developers to support the script, thereby increasing its usability and visibility, the Tulu scholar said.

Overall, this will empower Tulu speakers to communicate more effectively and confidently in their language, both locally and globally.

It is estimated that over 1.8 million people worldwide speak Tulu. Most Tulu speakers live in the coastal areas of Karnataka and Kerala, India, in regions known as Tulu Nadu. There are also Tulu speakers in the Gulf countries and the United States, he said.

Tulu is a Dravidian language and is related to Kannada, the official language of Karnataka. Tulu has a rich oral tradition, but there isn't much written in the language. Tulu's script is similar to Malayalam and originated from the Grantha script.

A long-drawn fight is ongoing to include Tulu in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. The Dravidian University at Kuppam in Andhra Pradesh has a special Tulu chair, he added.

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