Pluralism, linguistic autonomy facing threat, says president of 87th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in Mandya

The president of the Sammelana specifically addressed the difficulties of Kannada University in Hampi.

“Pluralism is the basic character of our country’s unity, but the Union Government has failed to follow this principle,” said Go.Ru. Channabasappa, popularly called Go.Ru.Cha, in his presidential address to the 87th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in Mandya, Karnataka.

“The most worrying thing is the danger that our social pluralism, multiculturalism, linguistic autonomy, religious harmony, and economic prosperity are facing today,” he said, addressing hundreds gathered to attend the annual event that celebrates the Kannada language.

“The Union Government should constitutionally follow the policy of multilingual culture. However, this is not happening today. In all-India level competitive examinations, banking transactions, and post offices, there is a large-scale effort to encourage the imposition of Hindi, ignoring the State languages,” he said.

He contended that Kannada is kept out of the departments, corporations, institutions, and banks under the Union Government as much as possible. Like other States, as per Article 345 of our Constitution, Kannada is the official language of our State. “Imposing a single language on all States is not justifiable. Karnataka government should convince the Union Government of this regard in every possible way,” he urged.

“Ours is a constitutional federal system, and we have maintained it for the last 74 years. It has carefully preserved its identity and uniqueness on the basis of its language, literature, lifestyle, food culture, spirituality, economy, employment, and other activities. Therefore, we should not forget that the unity and integrity of India rests on multilingualism-multiculturalism. Kannada is sovereign in Karnataka, which does not mean language blindness. It is a very important quality of an ideal democracy,” he added.

Further, he argued that the Union Government had failed to constitutionally manage ‘fiscal federalism’.

“There is truth in the statement of the Chief Minister of Karnataka that the Union Government is doing injustice to the State regarding tax share... These words should not be seen through political colours. This is a question of the life and future of the people of Karnataka,” he said. He urged a national discussion on the relationship between the Union and the States, especially on the financial relationship. “The Central Government should constitute a special commission of constitutional and financial experts in this regard,” he said.