Organised under the banner of Komuvada Alisi – Kendriya Vishvavidyalaya Ulisi Andolana (Eliminate Communalism – Save Central University Movement), several Dalit, progressive, left and democratic organisations have planned to lay siege to Central University of Karnataka (CUK) near Kadaganchi in Kalaburagi district on October 11, condemning what is termed as saffronisation of university campus.
Addressing a media conference in Kalaburagi on October 3, D.G. Sagar, a Dalit leader and the president of the campaign said that over 5,000 people would take out a procession from Kadaganchi village to the CUK campus to protest against the efforts of CUK Vice-Chancellor Battu Satyanarayana, faculty member and former Registrar Basavaraj Donur and others who, he said, were promoting right-wing communalism in the campus and suppressing Dalit and progressive students by implicating them in false police cases.
“The CUK must run under Dr. B.R. Ambekdar’s Constitution and not under the Manusmriti. Ever since Mr. Satyanarayana assumed power as Vice-Chancellor, right-wing communal activities have gathered momentum. The Vice-Chancellor himself encouraged and supported the formation of branches of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the right-wing student organisation Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Those students and faculty members who raise their voices against these activities are suppressed. CUK authorities themselves lodge police complaints against Dalti and progressive-minded students who are opposed to right-wing ideology. Mr. Satyanarayana and Mr. Donur are in the forefront in filing false police cases against the students with a malicious intention of spoiling their careers,” Mr. Sagar said.
‘Let universities be religion-neutral’
Recalling the pivotal role of the prolonged people’s movement and the efforts of senior political leaders such as All India Congress Committee president and the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge behind the establishment of CUK, Mr. Sagar said that the people of the region fought for the university with a hope that the institution would help fight the backwardness of the region and not facilitate the RSS and the ABVP to open their branches and spread communal hate among innocent students.
“The public institutions like CUK must be free from religious influences. They should remain religion-neutral and focus on imparting scientific education to students. However, Mr. Satyanarayana himself is at the forefront in organising Saraswathi Puja, Ganapathi Utsav and other Hindu religious activities in CUK damaging the secular foundation and fabric of the public institution,” Mr. Sagar said.
Rapid communal polarisation
Expressing serious apprehensions over the rapid communal polarisation taking place in CUK, R.K. Hudgi, a scholar and activist, said that students from Dalit, backward, minority and progressive backgrounds were being harassed and cornered.
“If the situation continues the same way it is now, I am afraid that oppressed students at CUK may follow Rohit Vemula – the Dalit PhD scholar who died by suicide at the University of Hyderabad because of harassment by the university authorities. CUK authorities filing cases against students with Left, Dalit, backward, minority and progressive backgrounds for every small thing is an attempt to create a criminal background for them and thus spoil their futures,” Mr. Hudgi said.
“A centre of higher education like CUK must focus on incorporating the advanced human knowledge gained through research and innovation worldwide and impart it to its students through ever-changing curriculums. However, the CUK under Mr. Satyanarayana is moving in the reverse direction by attempting to teach Vedic texts and imparting superstition and ignorance. The promotion of regressive right-wing ideology at the CUK is part of a larger design to suppress progressive thought represented by the Sharanas and Sufis of Kalyana Karnataka,” Meenakshi Bali, a women activist, said.
Activists Maruthi Gokhale, Ashwini Madankar, Suresh Hadimani, Abdul Quadar and others were present.
