Thiruvananthapuram/Thrissur: Kerala Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes K Radhakrishnan claims that placing tribal people in a "showcase" sends the "wrong message" and has ignited a controversy over their presentation during the Keraleeyam festival.
The Keraleeyam festival in Thiruvananthapuram featured a controversial exhibition of many tribal communities living in huts, adorned in traditional dress, and showcasing their diverse artistic and traditional dance forms.
The minister, speaking to reporters at Thrissur, said that it was his personal view that the tribals should not have been put in a “showcase” and a direction to that effect was given right at the beginning.
“We should not see them (tribals) as something to be displayed in a showcase. It gives out a wrong message. What happened here has to be enquired into and appropriate action needs to be taken,” he said, PTI reported.
Radhakrishnan said he has spoken to the Department of Culture and the Folklore Academy which organised the tribal exhibition called ‘Adimam’.
Following the disapproval expressed by the minister, Folklore Academy said no adivasis were exhibited there as showpieces.
“We only displayed their various arts and how they used to live in the past,” it said.
The academy said if there has been any mistake, it would be rectified.
It also said that to its knowledge, there was no mistake.