Literary critic and socialist thinker from Shivamogga D.S. Nagabhushan has refused the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in protest against the State’s “laxity” in pushing Kannada as the medium of instruction.
In a press statement issued on Tuesday, Mr. Nagabhushan said the State was lax in making any efforts to force the Union government to bring an amendment to the Constitution to enforce Kannada as medium of instruction here.
“The State government has lost a two-decade legal battle in the case and its now clear that only a Constitutional amendment can change this. Though the Chief Minister in last year’s Rajyotsava speech demanded that the Union government bring in the required amendment, it has not taken any follow up action and seems to have lost interest in the case,” the letter said.
Mr. Nagabhushan further goes on to suggest that at least now the State government must wake up, speak with other governments with the same interests and work with them to demand a Constitutional amendment.