Respect Kannada language, culture: Visvesvaraya Technological University fiat to students & staff

The Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has issued directions to all affiliated colleges to ensure that everyone, including staff and students, respect Kannada language and culture.

The university has issued a set of directives for students and staff of the affiliated colleges to follow. It has warned of disciplinary action against those who violate the directives.

“The colleges must communicate the same to the students and staff. Disrespecting Kannada language and culture cannot be tolerated,” reads the circular.

The directions have been issued following a letter from the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) to ensure that Kannada language is respected at university-affiliated colleges and hostels.

This followed an incident reported at AMC engineering college, Bengaluru, where a college hostel warden insisted that students speak in Hindi.

A video of the warden scolding a student who was speaking in Kannada and asking him to speak in Hindi and keep Kannada at home, has gone viral.

Following the incident, Kannada activists staged a protest and demanded action against the warden.

Vidyashankar S, the VTU vice chancellor, said, “Kannada is the language of our land and it is the responsibility of every citizen to respect the language. We have 220 affiliated colleges, with 3 lakh students. As there are students from outside Karnataka and India, we are taking all necessary measures to ensure that Kannada is respected at all levels. Since some unpleasant instances have been reported, we have issued guidelines to prevent such incidents.”

“If anyone violates the directives issued regarding Kannada, disciplinary action will be initiated as per law,” the VC said.

Inside the classrooms, in the campus or in the hostel, no word disrespecting Kannada should be used by any of the students and staff, the circular stated.

It may be recalled that the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences had recently constituted a Kannada Sangha at the university to promote Kannada and to ensure the implementation of the language at all levels.