Minister for Haj, Infrastructure and Information, R. Roshan Baig has said that in Urdu medium schools, medium of instruction should be Kannada while Urdu should remain only as a subject.
Speaking after laying the foundation stone of post matriculation minority hostel for boys, and upgrading of government Urdu High School at Indi town here on Monday, he said that if medium of instruction remained Urdu, students find it hard to cope with Kannada or English languages in higher education.
“No doubt Urdu is one of the finest languages and the language should preserved and protected, but studying in Urdu medium is not required as even a subject is sufficient to learn that language,” Mr. Baig said.
He appealed to Urdu scholars and Muslim leaders to brood over the matter and take a decision pragmatically.
The Minister said the government should make sure that all Urdu medium schools in the State had Kannada-language teachers as Kannada was the official language of the State and every student must learn it.
He, however, said Urdu was not a language only of Muslims but it was a nation’s language. “We have many acclaimed non-Muslim writers who write only in Urdu. The notion that Urdu is Muslims’s language is absolutely wrong,” he said. Referring to the massacre of students in Karachi, Pakistan, and killing of journalists in Paris by a terrorist group, Mr. Baig said all Muslims must strongly condemn such heinous crimes as Islam does not preach killing of innocent people in the name of religion.
In his address, MLA Yeshwantraigouda Patil said the government had granted eight acres of land in Indi town for constructing schools, colleges and hostels.
He said that eight acres of land would be used to build an ITI college, Degree College, High School and Hostel, while Rs. 1.72 crore was being spent to build a hostel and upgrade the Urdu High School.
