MYSURU: The three-day 87th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, a grand celebration of Kannada language and culture that is being held in Mandya, witnessed an unexpected surge of activism against imposition of Hindi in Karnataka.
Across the sprawling venue, young activists interrupted discussions, engaged attendees, drew their attention and took efforts to sensitise participants about what they called alleged systematic sidelining of Kannada in favour of Hindi.
These impromptu interventions, marked by fervent appeals and detailed pamphlets, significantly impacted the Sammelana’s proceedings. While debates and literary sessions were ongoing, groups of activists led by Radhakrishna, Abhi Gowda, Saraswathi and many others traversed the venue with slogans, urging Kannadigas to oppose the imposition of Hindi.
Passionate activists engaged attendees in conversations about the neglect of Kannada in public institutions like banks, post offices and insurance offices. “Kannada is being deliberately sidelined and we must act now to stop this erosion of our linguistic identity,” said activist Radhakrishna.
Many activists highlighted the adverse impact of the three-language formula in schools, where Hindi is compulsory. “As many as 90,510 students failed in their SSLC Hindi examination in 2023-24, setting them back in their academic career,” said another attendee.
“It is not about opposing Hindi as a language. It is about opposing its forced imposition,” said another youngster.
‘We’re against forced Hindi imposition’
“It is not about opposing Hindi as a language. It is about opposing its forced imposition,” said another youngster who distributed pamphlets to those visiting book stalls and called for adopting a bilingual policy of Kannada and English, with other languages being optional.
“Kannada must remain the dominant language of Karnataka, not just culturally but administratively and economically. We demand that Kannada be made mandatory for all services and employment opportunities in the state. The fight is against the central policies that threaten our identity,” said Ramakrishna.
A group of activists who stopped a session chaired by MLA Darshan Puttannaiah urged that there was a need to pass resolutions on these issues and demanded resolutions aimed at protecting the state’s linguistic and cultural identity.
