The Karnataka government’s decision to grant Rs 324 crore to a Sanskrit university on the outskirts of Bengaluru has led to a huge controversy.
Dozens of pro-Kannada organisations and hundreds of independent activists have opposed the move, describing it as a brazen step by the BJP government to accord special treatment to Sanskrit at the cost of state language Kannada.
Defending its decision, the Bommai government has reiterated that it will not shy away from promoting Sanskrit. Those who are opposing it have warned the government of a state-wide agitation if the decision is not rolled back immediately.
The Sanskrit University is coming up in Magadi taluk on the outskirts of the state capital. The state government has set the money aside for the university, angering Kannada organisations.
The powerful Kannada organisation Karnataka Rakshana Vedike has already hit the streets, describing the move as a conspiracy to give primacy to Sanskrit, ignoring Kannada.
Its president TA Narayana Gowda said that the Kannada University at Hampi has no money even to pay salaries and fellowships and several Kannada chairs are staring at a bleak future.
“The BJP government has contempt for Kannada. It is imposing Hindi and Sanskrit over us, killing Kannada in schools and colleges. Before spending hundreds of crores on a Sanskrit university that is of no use to anybody, they should save Kannada University and Kannada chairs at various universities in Karnataka. If the government mistakes our generosity for weakness, they will pay for it”, he said.
The Opposition has gone digital and a Twitter campaign #NotoSanskritUniversity was a big hit with over 50,000 tweets and retweets last Sunday.
A techie and new-age Kannada activist Ganesh Chethan, who is spearheading the online campaign, said Sanskrit promotion was a conspiracy hatched by the RSS to establish its hegemony at the cost of Kannada.
“Organisations like RSS have been brainwashing the people, claiming Sanskrit is the mother language of all Indian languages, including Kannada. It is a lie, propaganda. Kannada is a Dravidian language, not an Aryan language like Sanskrit. Kannada and Sanskrit are peer languages. Both are ancient. No way is Sanskrit bigger or more important than Kannada. We are against this kind of propaganda that Sanskrit is superior or our mother language. Karnataka government is under no obligation to promote Sanskrit by spending hundreds of crores. It serves the hidden agenda of the RSS and its political wing BJP. We will fight it out”.
Arun Javagal, another Kannada activist and techie, suspects that the promotion of Sanskrit is a part of a larger conspiracy to achieve “one nation, one language”.
An RSS-backed organisation, Sanskrit Bharati’s, decision to challenge the Karnataka government’s order making Kannada a compulsory language in degree education has added fuel to fire.
“The BJP government makes Kannada compulsory in degree education. BJP’s mother organisation RSS’ outfit challenges it in Karnataka High Court. They play good cop and bad cop to fool the Kannadigas”, allege these activists.
The BJP government-appointed chairman of Kannada Development Authority (KDA) TS Nagabharana has also come out in support of “no to Sanskrit University campaign”, demanding that Kannada should take precedence over other languages in the state.
Alarmed by these protests, the ruling BJP has asked its leaders to defend funding to Sanskrit University. Mysore-Kodagu MP Prathap Simha has attacked the Kannada organisations, calling them alarmists. Speaking to the media, he said: “Whatever these people might say, Sanskrit is the mother language of all Indian languages. There is so much Sanskrit in our languages. These protests are fuelled by Congress, Communists and PFI etc”.
Higher education minister Dr CN Ashwathnarayana has also defended the government decision, describing Sanskrit as an ancient scientific language of the world and reiterating that it is not being promoted at the cost of Kannada.
It may be recalled that in the early 1980s, making Sanskrit one of the first languages in school education led to a huge state-wide protest called the Gokak movement. It was led by thespian Rajkumar and other film stars.
Kannada organisations are now threatening to launch a similar movement if the government does not bend.
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