BENGALURU: A day after the institute was locked by the officials of the Department of Youth Empowerment Services, theatre personalities, litterateurs, social workers and alumni of National School of Drama (NSD) gathered near Guru Nanak Bhavan on Thursday and condemned the act.
On Wednesday, officials had barged into Guru Nanak Bhavan, where NSD was functioning on rent basis, and thrown all the equipment and materials outside the building before locking it. Students and officials of NSD had a tough time protecting the equipment from rain.
“There is a way to ask to vacate the place. They have literally disrespected the entire theatre fraternity of the state by bringing students, authorities and things of NSD on streets. They are not criminals. Any issue should have been solved legally,” said Prof K Marulasiddappa, chairman, Kuvempu Basha Bharathi. NSD students who were protesting did not even have a washroom to go to.
Senior theatre personality and writer Vijayamma said, “We are all here to extend our support to NSD. Entire theatre community is angry and unhappy with the way the officials behaved. They did not even leave the washroom open for girl students and this is an inhuman act.”
“Youth services department should keep the valuable things inside first and then talk about the issues. If they don’t respect the art and artistes, we will stage protests across the state,” J Lokesh, chairman of Karnataka Nataka Academy said.
Rental agreement is due to expire in October
NSD authorities said they approached the ministers concerned, requesting them to lease out Guru Nanak Bhavan for 30 years. “We need a permanent space to perform as the space we have at Kala Grama near JB campus is far from the city. Hence, we requested the Union government for funds to renovate this building,” said NSD director Basavalingaiah. “The present extended agreement was also due to expire only in October 2017,” he added. Recently, the department had increased the rent from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000.
Committee formed to look into the matter
A delegation led by Prof K Marulasiddappa met Youth Affairs Minister Pramod Madhvaraj on Thursday. The minister formed a committee consisting of theatre personalities to look in to the matter. NSD authorities were then also allowed to temporarily keep their belongings in a room at Guru Nanak Bhavan but asked not to display the NSD board outside. The committee will submit a report on how NSD can use the space and an official order will be issued in a day or two.