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Bengaluru Habba postponed

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

DISAPPOINTMENT: Artistes packing their instruments after Bengaluru Habba was cancelled in Bangalore on Thursday.

BANGALORE: Hours before it was due to be inaugurated here, the State Government announced the indefinite postponement of Bengaluru Habba 2008, Bangalore’s cultural festival, citing security concerns.

The Habba was scheduled to be held till December 21 in various localities of the city.

Briefing presspersons after a meeting of the State Cabinet here on Thursday, Shobha Karandlaje, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, said the Cabinet had discussed the logistics and decided to postpone it indefinitely because of the prevailing security scenario.

It was difficult to provide security to all artistes participating in the three-week-long festival considering that the programmes were to be held at 13 venues.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa was to have inaugurated the sixth edition of the festival at the Ravindra Kalakshetra at 6 p.m.

Sources told The Hindu that the Union Government had instructed the State not to hold the festival this month following the Mumbai terror attack.

The Cabinet has also decided not to give permission to private or public authorities to hold rallies, workshops, seminars or festivals on a large scale in Bangalore for the next one month.

The Government, which had agreed to adopt the habba as one of the flagship festivals of the State in partnership with the private sector, granted Rs. 2.5 crore, including Rs. 1 crore from the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and Rs. 50 lakh from the Bangalore Development Authority, for the festival.

As many as 16 government departments had agreed to support the Artistes’ Foundation for Arts (AFFA), the habba’s main organiser.

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council V.S. Ugrappa has opposed the grant when the State is facing a severe financial crunch due to the economic slowdown.

According to the sources, the Government was under pressure since Tuesday to postpone the event, with some Ministers, political leaders and officials requesting the Chief Minister, who also holds the portfolio of Kannada and Culture, to refrain from holding the habba now.

The Government has incurred an expenditure of over Rs. 5 lakh for the event and may have to share any other expenses incurred by AFFA.

The postponement came as a dampener to folk artistes who had come to perform for the inauguration.

“We came with such enthusiasm to perform here,” said Mallappa Hugar of Bagalkot, part of a 10-member Karadi Kunita troupe.

“It is not just for money that we come here; it is only to show our arts, which are on the decline,” said Mr. Hugar.

Those artistes from neighbouring places are paid Rs. 200 each a day and those coming from afar, around Rs. 500.

The troupe had landed in the morning, and as they were readying themselves for the inauguration, they were informed of the cancellation around 3 p.m.

“All the while we had not even thought of having breakfast or lunch as were focussing on the performance,” he said.

A number of folk artistes had turned up at the Ravindra Kalashetra from places such as Bijapur, Gulbarga, Bellary, Magadi and Mandya.

“We hired a vehicle for Rs. 1,500 to reach here. We hope that the Government will reimburse the expenses,” said K.P. Devaraj, a Pooja Kunita artiste from Mandya.

“The authorities had said they would give us Rs. 350 each towards our bus charge,” said Parushuram Bhajantri from Bagalkot.

AFFA trustees Nandini Alva and Padmini Ravi have, in a release, said, “Taking into consideration the safety of the citizens who have been supporting us in large numbers for the last five years, the Government, AFFA and Airtel have decided to postpone the habba for the time being.”

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