Terming the Supreme Court’s order on medium of instruction in schools a “death sentence to Kannada”, veteran journalist Patil Puttappa urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to convene a meeting of all chief ministers for the survival of regional languages.
At the valedictory function of the district Kannada Sahitya Sammelan on Tuesday, PaPu said the states were reorganised on the basis of mother tongue.
Hence, the respective states should be allowed to decide on the medium of instruction, he said.
“Due to the invasion of English, Kannada is under attack. The same could happen to all other regional languages,” he warned.
“Enacting a central law making primary education in the mother tongue compulsory is the only solution. For this to happen, Siddaramaiah should apprise his counterparts in other states about the gravity of the problem. MPs from the state should also be taken into confidence to exert pressure on the Central government,” he said.
In case the elected representatives do not respond to the call, an agitation is the solution, he said.
Writer Prof S G Siddaramaiah, in his valedictory address, said invasion of regional languages was a result of globalisation.
“People depending on their mother tongue have been reduced to second grade citizens. Kannada has become the first target of the hegemony of English. All states should come together to solve the issue by forcing the Centre to intervene”, he added.
KSP district president Lingaraj Angadi, Sammelan president Shivanand Gali, All India Radio station director C U Bellakki, University of Agriculture Sciences-Dharwad Vice-Chancellor D P Biradad and writer Shanta Imrapur were present at the literary conference.