Loliem school holds cultural event on a day of mourning
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CANACONA, AUG 28
The State government may have declared Saturday a public holiday due to the death of veteran Konkani writer Ravindra Kelekar, but an aided school in Canacona made it compulsory for its students to attend a school programme on Saturday.
Some angry parents said that the decision to hold a programme on a public holiday amounted to disrespect to the renowned Konkani writer.
Parents at Loliem were surprised to learn that children were called to the Shri Damodar Vidyalaya at Loliem on Saturday, although the State government had declared Saturday a public holiday and a mourning day as a mark of respect to veteran Konkani writer Kelekar.
“When parents confronted the headmaster, he said it was fully his responsibility that he had called the students for a cultural programme on the day and said he was aware that government had declared the day as a public holiday,” said Ajay Lolienkar, a PTA member of the school.
When contacted, Shri Damodar Vidyalaya Headmaster Shambu Prabhudessai tried to justify his decision, claiming that the programme had been fixed in advance.
“The chief guest was coming from a distance. This was not a cultural programme but an observation of ‘Sanskrit Day’ by the school, which is part of celebrations of ‘Narali Poornima’ held earlier,” said Prabhudessai.
“We did nothing wrong. Instead, we paid homage to the great personality, Ravindra Kelekar, during the programme,” he added.
The headmaster claimed that he and the school had great respect to the departed soul.
“We are part of the government’s observation of state mourning for the veteran Konkani writer and philanthropist Kelekar,” added Prabhudessai.
“No classes were taken nor were other activities held. The students were sent back home immediately after the programme.”
“During the programme, we all paid homage to the great writer, Ravindra Kelekar. We had no intention either to hurt anyone’s feelings or to disobey the government’s directives,” he said.
“We could not cancel the programme nor inform the chief guest who travelled from a distant place at the last moment. So we decided to go ahead and complete the programme as soon as possible.”
However, the headmaster evaded commenting on the fact that Chief Minister Digambar Kamat had on Friday declared Saturday as state mourning day.
