BENGALURU: Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Friday said that final exams for students are around the corner and this unrest on campuses shows that “some elements in the BJP’’ are not concerned about the education and future of students. Rather, they want to make use of students for their political ends,” he remarked.
Kharge, who has held the education portfolio earlier, said stoking communal passions on campuses during examination time is the most irresponsible act and is detrimental to the future of children. The government is encouraging communalisation of campuses and is hell-bent on destroying the children’s future. The government, through the district administration and school management committees, should work hard to put an end to this. It is the duty of the local district and education authorities to douse the flames of ‘communalism’ on education campuses, he stressed.
“Campuses are places for study and academic pursuits and let us keep it that way. Any attempt to communalise campuses is doing a disservice to students who are our future,” he told TNIE. “We need to remember that Karnataka is a progressive state and yet the literacy levels among girl students from the minority, Dalit and backward communities have not not been as high as expected. Trouble on campuses should not further affect literacy levels among the downtrodden groups,” he pointed out.
He said there are Constitutional safeguards to permit a person to practice one’s religion freely without fear and added that vested interests should be kept away from vitiating the campus atmosphere. At a press conference earlier, he had stated that certain vested interests were behind the hijab unrest.