KARWAR: Noted poet K S Nissar Ahmed was honoured with prestigious Pampa Award during the two-day Kadambotsava at Banavasi near Sirsi on Friday evening. District Minister R V Deshpande gave away the award.
The local people expressed their unhappiness as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Kannada and Culture Minister Umashree skipped the prestigious state-level event.
After receiving the award, Nissar Ahmed said he felt proud to receive the award, that too in the land of Pampa.
“It is the need of hour to make Kannada as administrative language. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the language to survive. Kannada is one of the oldest languages in the world and it is ranked 19th among old languages. There is no need to oppose other languages, but Kannada should be given more preference,” he said.
The utsav is being organised by district administration of Uttara Kannada, Tourism Department and Kannada and Culture Department.
In the afternoon, a procession with tableaux of various departments was taken out from Madhukeshwara temple to Mayuravarma Vedike.
Hundreds of artistes from various parts of the Karnataka and thousands of people, including students, participated.