Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Aug 13: Veteran journalist, Dinesh Amin Mattu, held the veteran Congress trio of B Janardhana Poojary, Veerappa Moily, and Oscar Fernandes, responsible for the crushing reverses faced by the party in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.

He was speaking at a session on 'land reforms in Karnataka - from where to where' organized here as part of B V Kakkillaya centenary programme on August 11.

He said that Land Reforms Act was a hasty, revolutionary decision taken by the then chief minister, Devaraj Urs. "For giving political recognition to backward classes, Devaraj Urs saw that tickets were issued to Poojary and such other people and contributed to their growth. But these three Congress leaders from the coast never spoke about the role played by Devaraj Urs in enacting the above law. The communal politics which took over later made the beneficiaries of land reforms to lean towards the BJP. If the trio of Poojary, Moily and Oscar Fernandes had placed the actual facts before the young generation in the past, the children of the beneficiaries of Land Reforms Act would never have embraced saffron ideals," he analyzed.

Mattu said that coastal Karnataka never witnessed any large scale struggle or movement relating to land reforms. He analysed that even though Billawas got land because of the above act in large quantities, their development was hampered because of the fact that agricultural activity was no more a profitable venture. He said that because of this, youngsters from this community turned towards Mumbai and Gulf nations for improving their financial standing.