Karnataka Rajyotsava: Ignored by the state, Kannada flag creator's wife lives in abject poverty
- The Kannada flag was designed by Ma Ramamurthy in the 1960s
- Kamalamma, wife of Ma Ramamurthy who designed the red and yellow Kannada flag is now 91 years old.
- She lives in Sharada Abalashrama, a home for destitute women in Basavanagudi, for the past 50 years.
FollowThe Kannada flag was designed by Ma Ramamurthy in the 1960s. Karnnataka is all set to celebrate the formation of the state in a grand manner with red and yellow flag flying all over the state. But the current plight of the wife of late Ramamurthy is surely not celebration-worthy.
Kamalamma, wife of Ma Ramamurthy who designed the red and yellow Kannada flag is now 91 years old. She lives in Sharada Abalashrama, a home for destitute women in Basavanagudi, for the past 50 years.
CM as well as the pro-Kannada activists and people who have been giving speeches about the grandeur of Karnataka and the Kannada flag, should also think about the state of those who gave the first flag to Karnataka.
Speaking to Ashwini M Sripad of the Indian Express Kamalamma had told that the Kannada Flag was unfurled for the first time it Akkipet in Chikpet. As a tribute, a locality in East Bengaluru, Ramamurthynagar, was named after the Kannada writer-activist.
Kamalamma had also said that she remembers preparing breakfast and lunch for writers who visited home with her husband Ramamurthy. The Kannada flag was coloured red and yellow as it represents the Arisina - Kunkuma (Turmeric and Kumkum) which is considered auspicious in the Kannada land.
CM Siddaramaiah has made it clear that a nine-member committee set up by the government following a demand of the pro-Kannada activists to have a separate flag for Karnataka.
He told the Indian Express that, “The Constitution does not restrict the states from having separate flags. We are not undermining the supremacy of the national flag and the integrity of the nation. Once the committee submits its report considering all the legal aspects, an “apolitical decision” will be taken in the larger interest of Karnataka.”
But while discussing or staging protest no one even bothered to think about the person who designed the Kannada flag. It is sad that when the flag is considered as an identity of the state and also of represents the people of the state, the plight of the family of the person who designed it does not matter at all.
Hope the Karnataka government takes the issue seriously and sees to it that the wife of the maker of the Kannada flag gets to live comfortably.
