Karnataka: Higher Education Dept. cancels event on Deendayal Upadhyay at KSOU following protocol violation row

Karnataka cancels Deendayal Upadhyay event at KSOU due to protocol violations, citing inconsistency with university objectives.

The Department of Higher Education on Tuesday cancelled the three-day conference on Hindutva ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya scheduled to start on the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) premises in Mysuru from Wednesday after rejecting the reply given by Vice-Chancellor Sharanappa V. Halase.

Hourse after Prof. Halase claimed that the ‘Ekatma Manav Darshan - Bharat’s Worldview’ was a “private programme” and the KSOU had merely rented its convocation hall to the organisers for the event, N. Kumar, Deputy Secretary to the Government (Universities) in a letter to the Vice-Chancellor, noted that the invitation card for the programme mentioned the university as the “Hosting University,” and carried the university’s logo, while Prof. Halase himself was presiding over the programme.

“Therefore, there are no valid grounds to accept the explanation furnished in your written statement,” noted the letter.

The ‘Ekatma Manav Darshan - Bharat’s Worldview’, commemorating 60 years of Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya’s lectures, organised by Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation and Prajna Pravah on the KSOU campus, had sparked a row with the State government opposing the event citing protocol violation and issuing a show cause notice to Prof. Halase.

The letter by the Higher Education Department referred to documents, apparently on the payment of rent for the venue by the organisers to KSOU, and said it is evident that the rental amount for the programme was collected from the concerned organisation after the issue was raised during Zero Hour in the Legislative Council. “Although the programme is stated to be private and outside the purview of the university, no justification has been provided for the use of the university’s logo”.

As the objective and subject matter of the conference are also found to be inconsistent with the aims and objectives of the university, granting permission for a private programme in violation of government guidelines, rules, and protocol cannot be accepted, the government said before cancelling the programme with immediate effect.