Mysore/Mysuru: Even as the protests by members of several organisations who are staging an indefinite stir in front of Rangayana Gate seeking the sacking of Rangayana Director is into the second week, hundreds of members of various organisations staged a massive demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office here this morning in support of the theatre repertory’s Director Addanda C. Cariappa, urging the Government not to pay heed to activists who have been demanding his ouster.

The demonstration was organised under the joint aegis of Mysuru Rakshana Vedike, Mysuru Kodava Samaja, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike Swabhimanigala Balaga and a host of other Kodava Associations. Mysuru Hotel Owners Association too extended support to the demonstration.

Addressing the protesters, Mysuru Rakshana  Vedike President M.K. Premkumar said that Rangayana Director Cariappa is doing justice to his job, by giving a new touch to the theatre repertory.

Stressing on the need for everyone to support Cariappa in his endeavour to take Rangayana to greater heights, Premkumar alleged that a few personalities, who call themselves intellectuals, are staging protests to meet their selfish ends.

Accusing the so-called intellectuals of trying to push their own agenda, he said that they have taken to protests just because Cariappa has taken steps to correct the wrongs that were part of Rangayana earlier.

Lashing out at those protesting against Cariappa, he said that the Government should ignore such protests.

N.B. Kaverappa, Founder of Bharani Art Gallery, said that Cariappa is working for upholding the dignity of Rangayana through his innovative initiatives.

He maintained that several vested interests were behind the ongoing protests against the Rangayana Director, who has given a new dimension to the repertory.

Contending that the protest has been launched just because Cariappa is a Kodava, he said that the Nation always comes first for Kodavas.

Asserting that Cariappa is doing a cleansing job in Rangayana, which no Director in the past had undertaken, Kaverappa argued that the present Rangayana looks green because of the efforts of Cariappa.

He urged the Government to totally  ignore the allegations being made by those seeking the sacking of Cariappa.

Mysuru Hotel Owners Association President C. Narayanagowda, who also addressed the demonstration, alleged that politics, which was not to be seen in Rangayana since its establishment over three decades ago, has now surfaced just because Cariappa is doing a wonderful job as its Director.

Asserting that the people of Mysuru stand by Cariappa for all the theatre promotion activities that he has been doing since he took over as Rangayana Director two years ago, Narayanagowda alleged that Cariappa is being unfairly accused of promoting right wing ideology.

Charging that a section of the society is targeting Cariappa just because he is a Kodava, he urged the District Administration to intervene and put an end to the ongoing protests in front of Rangayana, in the better interests of the theatre and theatre-lovers.

City BJP Spokesperson M.A. Mohan too addressed the demonstration and asked the Government to take action against the protesters for making baseless allegations against Cariappa.

The protesters held placards that carried slogans such as ‘Maovadi Yedapanteeyarige Dhikkara’, ‘Rangayana Iruvudu Ranga Chatuvatikege, Anaitika Horatakkalla’, ‘Swapratishte Bidi, Rangayana Nadeyalu Bidi’, ‘Rangayanadalli Pantha Beda’ etc.

Mysuru Kodava Samaja office-bearers Kekada M. Belliappa, Mechanda M. Ponnappa, Malachira M. Ponnappa, Mukkatira B. Jeevan, Padeyanda Vimala Poonacha, Sri Kaveri Kodagu Mahila Sangha’s Ponjanda Lovely Appaiah, Kodagu Sahakara Sangha’s Nanjamma, members of various other organisations — Rakesh Bhat, Sanjay, Jayasimha, Naveen Kumar Koppal, Pramod Gowda, Vikram Iyengar — Mysuru Hotel Owners Association members Madhav Rao, Hemanth Kumar, K. Bhaskar Shetty and others took part in the protest demo.