On his arrival in Mandya on December 19, 2024, the President of the 87th Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, Nadoja Goru Channabasappa, was greeted by Mandya District In-charge Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy, Kannada Sahitya Parishad President Mahesh Joshi, MLA Ravikumar, Deputy Prime Minister welcoming. Commissioner Dr. Kumara. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangements
“Pluralism is the basic character of our country’s unity, but the central government has failed to follow this principle,” Go.Ru said. Channabasappa, popularly known as Go.ru.cha, in his inaugural address at the 87th Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelan in Mandaya, Karnataka.
“The most worrying thing is the threat our social pluralism, multiculturalism, linguistic autonomy, religious harmony and economic prosperity are facing today,” he said while addressing hundreds of people present at the anniversary of the Kannada language.
The central government should constitutionally adopt a policy of multilingual culture. However, that is not happening today. In all-India level competitive examinations, banking transactions, and in post offices, huge efforts are being made to encourage the introduction of Hindi, ignoring the state languages,” he said.
He argued that Kannada was kept out of central government departments, corporations, institutions and banks as much as possible. Like other states, according to Article 345 of our constitution, Kannada is the official language of our state. “It is not fair to impose a single language on all states. The Karnataka government should convince the central government in this regard by all possible means,” he urged.
“Ours is a constitutional federal system, we have maintained it for the past 74 years. Based on its language, literature, lifestyle, food culture, spirituality, economy, employment and other activities, it has carefully preserved its identity and uniqueness. Therefore, we should not forget that the unity and integrity of India is based on multilingualism-multiculturalism. Kannada is sovereign in Karnataka, which means no language blindness. This is a very important quality of an ideal democracy,” he added.
Financial relations too
He argued that the federal government has failed to manage ‘financial federalism’ constitutionally.
“There is truth in the Karnataka Chief Minister’s statement that the central government is doing injustice to the state in tax distribution… these words should not be seen in political colour. It is a question of the life and future of the people of Karnataka,” he said. “The central government should form a special commission of constitutional and financial experts in this regard,” he said.
Mr. Channabasappa praised the five guarantee schemes implemented by the Government of Karnataka. “They are important for the working class. This is an indirect way of honoring the working class, it is a plan to share economic prosperity among the people,” he said.
Religious intolerance
Expressing regret over religious intolerance, he said, ‘Today, religion has become a tool to sow intolerance and inequality. Religion and religious institutions are being misused. Festivals and anniversaries of religious leaders have become weapons that divide society instead of uniting people. It is regrettable that instead of mercy, temples, mosques, gurudwaras, chaityalayas and basadis are becoming centers of communal conflict,’ he said.
Mr. Channabasappa emphasized the importance of using technology for the development of Kannada. “The reason why Kannada language has survived through thousands of years is because it has kept pace with the evolution of time. Kannada has been a very rich language. Contribution of all the political, social and cultural developments of that time has absorbed and flourished our language. Now, with the help of technology, which The face of global communication is changing, Kannada language needs to become richer. The biggest responsibility of the government is to make necessary technical preparations for this,’ he said.
in Kannada University
The President of the Conference specifically addressed the difficulties of the Kannada University at Hampi and asked for special attention. “It is really heartbreaking that it is in a miserable condition due to lack of funds. The university cannot pay the staff, electricity and water bills. It does not glorify any government. So the government should not look upon it as a profit-making educational institution. The objectives of Kannada University are to protect and nurture and there It is the moral responsibility of the government to ensure that research is done without any concerns. The same applies to our folklore university, which is dedicated to folklore and is considered the first of its kind in the world,” he added.
published – Dec 20, 2024 03:34 pm IST