Artistes demand night curfew exemption for Yakshagana

Mangaluru: Heads of various

Yakshagana troupes

from

Dakshina Kannada

, led by the BJP’s arts and culture cell, submitted a memorandum to deputy commissioner K V Rajendra on Tuesday, seeking

exemption

of

night curfew

restrictions for Yakshagana.

Dakshina Kannada District BJP Arts and Culture Cell president Sarapady Ashok Shetty said that the night curfew restrictions will affect

Yakshagana

performances in the district.

“The district administration should extend the night curfew deadline from 10pm to 12am for Yakshagana. Artistes are in distress due to the pandemic and lockdowns in the past two years. Professional artistes and their families have suffered financial crises when Yakshagana programmes were banned during lockdowns. The night curfew has been imposed at a time when the Yakshagana season has just begun. Several shows that were booked earlier have been cancelled. As a result, more than 900 artistes from 30 troupes will be jobless,” Shetty said.

The delegation also sought a meeting of all troupe heads immediately, to find a solution to the issue. “If the district administration fails to take necessary steps, artistes and their family members will stage a protest in front of the deputy commissioner’s office,” the delegation warned in their memorandum.

Rajesh Gujaran, manager of Sasihitlu Yaksagana Mela, S A Varkadi, manager of Mangaladevi Mela, Bappanadu Mela manager Vinod Kumar Bajpe, Sunkadakatte Mela manager Ramesh Kulshekhar, Nagashakti Mela manager Santhosh Shetty Kadthala and artistes were part of the delegation.