Kannada activists in Karnataka are outraged by the state government’s plan to allot Rs 359 crore for a Sanskrit university in Bengaluru. Those opposed to the decision have accused the BJP-led administration of disregarding the state language’s advancement while pushing Sanskrit. The State Government has been criticised for boosting Karnataka Sanskrit University, despite the fact that Kannada University, Hampi, is nearly “paralysed” owing to a lack of funds. Kannada University’s financial situation is so bad that it hasn’t admitted any new students in three years.
The Sanskrit University is slated to be constructed near Thippasandra village, Magadi, on Bengaluru’s outskirts. According to reports, the government has set aside 100 acres of land and Rs 359 crore for the University’s development. While the university’s plans were initially presented in 2011 when the BJP was in power, money was only allocated in early January 2022.
On the other hand, Kannada University’s Vice-Chancellor, SC Ramesh, has stated that the financial shortage is so severe that they have been unable to pay guest lecturers for the last six months, and that the university has no other source of income because it has no colleges affiliated with it. According to reports, he has written to the state government requesting Rs 24 crore in funding.
On Sunday, Kannada organisations and citizens launched the “#SayNoToSanskrit” campaign on Twitter. “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,” T. A. Narayana Gowda, president of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, who led the Twitter campaign on Sunday, stated, “Time has come to unite against the imposition of both Sanskrit and Hindi.”
