Questioning the guidelines followed in the selection of languages to impart training to MPs, legislators from Centrally administered territories, and officials, the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) has expressed disappointment over Kannada being dropped from the list of languages proposed by the Parliament Secretariat.
“What are the parameters followed in the selection of languages? Kannada has a history of over 2,000 years. It is very disappointing,” KDA chairman T.S. Nagabharana said, adding that Karnataka might have to fight by seeking support from MPs elected from the State.
The noted film-maker is among the many who have criticised the Centre for ignoring Kannada in the selection of languages for training. The Parliamentary Research and Training Institute will start training in six Indian languages and six foreign languages, and Kannada is not on the list despite having classical language status. While Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, Odiya, Tamil, and Telugu are the Indian languages chosen, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Russian, and Portuguese are the foreign ones.
Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Sunday said, “Ignoring Kannada is the result of electing 25 MPs who are not passionate about Kannada. Kannada has to be included, otherwise all of us have to reject it [the training].”
In a series of tweets, he said, “Only we are raising our voice against it. Voice has to be raised by all against the Centre’s role in discrimination against Kannada.” Saying that the Centre has been ignoring Kannada every time, he said a strict message has to be conveyed.
He added that despite the “anti-Kannada stance” of the Centre, none of the 25 BJP MPs elected from Karnataka had raised their voice. “People have to understand that the BJP is fundamentally anti-Kannada. If it is not true, then the BJP has to set things right,” he said.