The Hindu : `Clash' between `body', `mind' catches public attention

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 31, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

`Clash' between `body', `mind' catches public attention

By Our Staff Correspondent

HASSAN MARCH 30. At times when most nations are planning for the next mega sporting event, sportspersons from Omega Sports Club here are embroiled in a controversy over a piece of land claimed by the Hasanamba Theosophical Society. This "clash" between the "body" and the "mind" has caught the attention of the public.

The land, measuring 84 ft. X 120 ft. on the southwest corner of Coronation Hall behind the District Central Library here, was granted to the society by the then Deputy Commissioner on April 4, 1930. The members came to know about the extent of the land owned by the society only recently.

The society has partially demolished the old compound separating its existing property from the court managed by the club, and begun constructing it afresh. Alarmed that the construction would eat into their playing space, members of the club pulled down a portion of it and requested the society not to intrude into their zone.

The founder-members of the club, Prashanth Bagde and Somshekar, said they levelled the land adjacent to the society in 1968 and paved the way for the construction of a court. While agreeing that the documents were in favour of the society, their only request was to retain the old demarcation line and allow the club to continue with routine sporting activities.

The Arsikere tahsildar, S.G. Kumarswamy, who is one of the secretaries of the club, played a proactive role in trying to defuse the tension between the members of the society and the club.

The President of the Hassan City Municipal Council, Channaveerappa, who intervened on behalf of both the parties, requested the society to maintain status quo. He said the laws of urban planning authority made it mandatory for such areas to compulsorily earmark space for parks and playing areas, and added that the construction taken up by the society would hinder the activities of the club. The President of the society, Ramakrishna Shetty, said activities of the club were a hindrance for the members to carry out their routine activities. However, with public support in favour of the club, he agreed to a temporary truce, and said that the society's Central Committee in Bangalore would take a decision as the property was registered in its name. He was at a loss to explain why one of the former presidents had rented a part of the building to a tailor and his family against the rules of the society.

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`Clash' between `body', `mind' catches public attention