Tense moments prevailed for a while at Rangayana here on Wednesday after a near face-off of the groups protesting against and supporting its director Addanda C. Cariappa.
This led to the intervention of police, which issued a notice to the members of the “Save Rangayana” campaign to stop holding protests in front of Rangayana and shift their protest venue to the premises of the Deputy Commissioner’s office. The groups, however, dispersed.
One group supporting Mr. Cariappa took exception to the continuation of protest by the “Save Rangayana” members despite the police notice for vacating the venue. They argued that they too will hold the demonstration in front of Rangayana in support of its director if the protest by the other group is allowed.
As the sloganeering by the groups in support of their demands intensified, the police intervened and asked the Save Rangayana members to vacate the protest venue saying that no protests are allowed outside the Rangayana as the protests were causing disturbance to the daily activities.
After Tuesday’s padayatra, the Save Rangayana activists led by Pa. Mallesh continued to stage a demonstration for the dismissal of the director for his alleged promotion of “communal agenda” in the repertory. The protestors holding the placards sat in a dharna in support of their demands. On knowing this, the groups supporting Mr Cariappa, which staged a demonstration at the Deputy Commissioner’s office on Tuesday, entered the scene and raised slogans against the demand.
The notice issued from the office of the Commissioner of Police to the Save Rangayana members said there has been no permission given for staging the protest at Rangayana since last December 20. Despite this, the protest has continued, affecting theatre activities, staging of plays and other activities at the repertory besides the cultural, public and other activities at Kalamandira.
