Dharwad: Curtains fell on the three-day 84th Akhila Bharatha Kannada Sahitya Sammelana on Sunday with scholars, writers and activists strongly opposing the Government’s move to introduce English as a medium of instruction in Government Primary Schools.
The Literary Meet provided an opportunity for the speakers to rip apart the State Government for its neglect of Kannada Schools, Irrigation Projects of North Karnataka, development of border areas and such other issues.
The Sammelana was successful in that the facilities provided by the District Administration were by and large good. However, the quality of discussion at the Sessions as part of the Literary Meet was left much to be desired.
The Session on intolerance on the second day of the Meet hogged the limelight.
A small group among the audience tried to disrupt actress Malavika’s speech when she was presenting a paper on ‘Governance and intolerance’ and raised the Sabarimala episode.
The cultural programmes at the Meet, gave an opportunity for artistes to display their talent.
On the third and final day on Sunday, the Sammelana passed five unanimous resolutions — 1. The State Government should nationalise education from Pre-Primary level to Class VII. 2. The State Government should drop the move to introduce English as medium of instruction in 1,000 Government Primary Schools. 3. The Union Government must allow candidates appearing for UPSC exams to write in Kannada. 4. The State Government must ensure that the Naadageete penned by Kuvempu is rendered at least for two minutes and 30 seconds. 5. The organisers of the Sammelana thanks all those who helped in making the three-day event a ground success.
The resolutions were passed amidst thundering applause from the huge audience.
This post was published on January 7, 2019 6:35 pm