Karnataka’s grant of ₹320 crore to Sanskrit varsity triggers a row

Organisations decry ‘step-motherly treatment’ meted out to Kannada

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led State Government has drawn flak from Kannada organisations and writers for promoting Karnataka Samskrit University, with a grant of ₹320 crore for its campus, while Kannada University, Hampi has almost become “paralysed” due to shortage of funds. The financial condition of Kannada University is so precarious that it has been three years since it has inducted any new students.

The Government’s move to promote Karnataka Samskrit University has drawn a lot of ire as it also comes close on the heels of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition by a group of institutions promoting Sanskrit, including a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliate, blocked making Kannada learning mandatory in undergraduate courses.

Kannada organisations and netizens took to Twitter on Sunday with a campaign “#SayNoToSanskrit”. “We should remember the historic Gokak agitation took place against a conspiracy to impose Sanskrit in education at the cost of Kannada. We had to carry out a campaign last year to get some paltry sum of money to Kannada University, Hampi. The priorities of the BJP government have become clear. Time has come to unite against the imposition of both Sanskrit and Hindi,” tweeted T. A. Narayana Gowda, president, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, leading the Twitter campaign on Sunday.