Mysuru: It is the litterateurs and journalists who have the capacity to dream and who dare dream but they do not have the power to put their dreams into actions, while the politicians have the power to put the dreams into actions but they do not dream, said former Minister V. Sreenivasa Prasad.

He was speaking at ‘Koti Nenapu’ organised in memory of late journalist Rajashekar Koti on his first death anniversary, by the Mysuru District Journalists Association (MDJA) at Kalamandira this morning and said if ever there was a dreamer who always fought for the cause of the downtrodden section of the society through his newspaper, it was Koti.

Rajashekar Koti was one of the pioneers who strived hard for the development of district newspapers, who always believed in good human relations. He was influenced by Ram Manohar Lohia’s ideology and thinking and hence took up causes of the poor in his newspaper. In short, he was an excellent human being, said Prasad.

Recalling the time when Andolana newspaper had brought out a collection of reports on him titled, ‘Madhyamagallali Sreenivasa Prasad,’ he said though Koti was very unhappy when he had left the party to join another one and he had distanced himself from him (Prasad), he as a politician had always respect for Koti, said Prasad.

Koti had been groomed in the stables of renowned journalist Patil Puttappa and the very word Andolana means agitation which stood for social justice and causes. There was a time when Koti had suffered financial losses and that was the time when litterateurs like Devanur Mahadev and others who had stood by him, he said.

Koti was the voice of the exploited masses and through his newspaper Andolana, he fought for their rights, said Higher Education Minister G.T. Devegowda.

GTD remembered how he had personally seen Koti distributing his newspaper by hand to the people and how he had grown to the stature he had reached by working extremely hard. Even his wife Nirmala Koti had always stood by him through tough times which he said he had seen with his own eyes.

Koti always believed in straight talk and was a person who never minced words. Pointing out this trait of Koti, GTD said that once the veteran journalist had come to attend an Adivasi programme and as soon as he reached the place, he pointed out to the poor condition of the roads. Being an MLA at that time, he had immediately got the road repaired, GTD reminisced.

Former CMs’ messages

MDJA City Secretary B. Raghavendra read out the message of former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, who was to inaugurate the programme but could not  attend.

The message of former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah was also read out which said that he (Siddharamaiah) had personally known Koti for a long time and whenever he read Andolana, he felt that Koti was with him.

Earlier, floral tributes were offered to the portrait of Rajashekar Koti. On the occasion, a book ‘Koti Odugara Andolana’ was released.

The others present on the dais included veteran journalist Patil Puttappa, Tourism Minister S.R. Mahesh, MLA A. H. Vishwanath and MDJA President C.K. Mahendra.  Litterateur Prof. G. H. Nayak, Meera Nayak, MLA L. Nagendra, former MLA Vasu, former Mayor R. Lingappa, Mysuru City Congress President R. Murthy, Prof. H.S. Ramachandra Gowda, former MUDA Chairman C. Basavegowda, Congress leaders Vikrant P. Devegowda, former Minister C.H. Vijayashankar, Nirmala Koti, children Ravi Koti, Rashmi Kaujalgi, Ramya Patil and others were present on the occasion.