Literary meet begins with concern over govt. schools being closed

Taking exception to the State goverment’s proposed move to close down government schools, writer Hema Pattanashetti has said that if people fail to understand the State government’s move towards making education a commercial product, then public education system will be destroyed.

Delivering the speech of the Sammelanadhyakshe (conference president) at of the 18th Zilla Kannada Sahitya Sammelan in Dharwad on Monday, Prof. Pattanashetti said that the process of closing down government schools has gained momentum across the country and in Karnataka, the pace has been even more fast.

“Understanding the seriousness of the issue, the learned, thinkers and writers should take up the responsibility of sensitising the public. As most of the politicians run educational institutions, they are trying to destroy the public education system for the sake of protecting their educational institutions. Karnataka government is merging government schools under its KPS Magnet School scheme, which is nothing but a violation of the fundamental right to education,” she said.

Mentioning about the advent of AI (Artificial Intelligence), she emphasised the need for elaborate study on how AI is going to impact the future of Kannada language.

Along with digitalisation of the literary treasure of the classical language, one should also think of protection of the cultural heritage carried forward through the language. The issue of converting the new technology into human centric or life centric is another challenge which should be elaborately discussed, she said.

Expressing concern over increasing violence and war mongering, she said that writers should focus on creation of literature that opposes developments that pose a threat to human dignity and literature should always drive one towards peace and harmony.

Prof. Pattanashetti also referred to the recent controversy surrounding the “vulgar” song of Kannada film KD and said that there is a need for serious thinking on stopping such commodification of women.

In her speech, she also touched upon the changes that women writing has undergone, the cultural history of Dharwad, its impact on her writing and the future challenges of Kannada.

Before concluding, she appealed to Kannadigas to start signing in Kannada.

Inaugurating the sammelan, the former Vice-Chancellor of Karnataka State Akkamahadevi Women’s University Sabiha Bhumigowda said that the literary conference is the time to introspect on the mistakes committed by all, on whether people are losing sensitivity over social crimes and how to make amends.

She said that the issues concerning women are no longer issues related to just women. They are actually issues troubling society and society should take the responsibility of trying to find solutions to address them.

Inaugurating an exhibition of books of Prof. Pattanashetti, president of Akhila Bharat Sharana Sahitya Parishat C. Somashekhar urged the State government to earmark at least 1% of the total budget for development of Kannada language.

President of Dharwad district unit of Kannada Sahitya Parishat Lingaraj Angadi made the introductory remarks and thanked all those involved in mobilising funds for organising the conference in the absence of any government support.

President of the previous sammelan S.R. Gunjal handed over the Kannada flag to Hema Pattanashetti.

Mayor Jyoti Patil spoke. President of Karnatak Vidyavardhak Sangha Chandrakanth Bellad presided over the inaugural session.

Earlier, the sammelan president was brought to the venue in a procession from KCC Bank Circle.

Subsequently, sessions were held on various issues related to Kannada.

An exhibition-cum-sale of books is also being organised as part of the sammelan.