Karnataka: Twitter campaign to include Tulu in 8th schedule gains momentum

Mangaluru: Even as the clamour for popularising Kannada gains momentum, youth of Tulunadu have decided to use social media to press for their long-standing demand to add Tulu language to the 8th schedule of the Constitution.

The Youth have decided to launch Tweet Tulunad, a campaign demanding that the Central and state governments add Tulu in the 8th schedule, and will have a twitter campaign on Thursday from 6 am to 9 pm.

Tulu is considered one of the ancient languages of the Dravidian family and is spoken by people of coastal Karnataka and Kerala. However despite a strong demand to add this language in the 8th schedule, no government has taken much interest in fulfilling it. Requests and memorandums by various organisations and associations too have not brought any result.

“We want Tulu to get its due status. This time, we have decided to make use of social media which is a strong medium. Every minister and leader now tweets on relevant issues. When so many people tweet to leaders, we are sure that we will get some reply from them. We want to make this a mass movement. People can directly give their message to the leaders through this twitter campaign,” Jai Tulunad president Ashwath Tuluva told Deccan Chronicle.

“Already we have started creating awareness and are giving publicity to this campaign through our Facebook and WhatsApp groups. This will be a platform for the common man to convey his message to the government. Everyone has an android phone now, they have to open a twitter account and send a message, hashtag #TuluTo8thSchedule,” he said. The tweet has to be sent to the PM, the Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Kerala in addition to Union Ministers and Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel. "We expect over 20,000 people to tweet tomorrow," he said.