Bengaluru, Mar 24 (PTI) The Karnataka government on Tuesday cancelled the proposed three-day lecture series on the RSS ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay at KSOU in Mysuru citing violations of protocol and guidelines.
The decision follows scrutiny of the university’s plan to host the event from March 25 to 27 without prior intimation to the government, and its claim that the programme was a private event despite use of the university’s name, logo and official involvement.
“Therefore, for the above reasons, the International Academic Conference on ‘Ekatma Manava Darshan – Bharat’s Worldview’ is hereby cancelled with immediate effect,” the government said in its order.
The government also flagged a “serious breach of protocol,” noting that the Vice-Chancellor is presiding over the event and that permission was granted to a private organisation even as an inquiry into administrative and financial irregularities at the university is underway.
State Higher Education Minister M C Sudhakar defended the government’s decision to cancel the event saying public universities must remain apolitical and free from ideological influence.
According to a statement issued by the RSS media group, the conference is scheduled to be held from March 25 to 27 at the Convocation Hall of the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU).
Responding to criticism from the BJP over the cancellation of a lecture series, the minister said the government viewed the matter seriously, citing concerns over the nature of the organising body and the involvement of university authorities.
“Our public universities are meant to be apolitical. No political activities should be conducted in our universities,” Sudhakar told reporters in Bengaluru.
Expressing concern over the university’s association with the organisers, he said, it is shocking that our university has joined hands with them. The Vice-Chancellor himself is the reception committee chairman.
Alleging that the organisers were linked to a particular ideological stream, the minister said, this organisation is an intellectual wing associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). When such an organisation is conducting the event and the Vice-Chancellor himself is part of it, I think it sends a wrong message.
Sudhakar also termed the development a “breach of protocol”, stating that the government had not been informed about the event. This is a state university, and they have not even bothered to inform us.
If at all it was related to improving higher education, then the government should also have been part of it.
Reiterating the government’s stand, he added, “We cannot misuse university campuses for certain ideological events.” The minister said the issue had been taken up seriously at the highest level.
“We have taken this very seriously, and I have assured on the floor of the House that the event should not be conducted,” he said.
The RSS said the event is organised in collaboration with Prajna Pravah, Karnataka, and the Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation.
However, the organisers said the conference will be inaugurated by the Karnataka Governor and Chancellor of State Universities, Thaawarchand Gehlot, in the presence of Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji of Sutturu Math.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will participate and deliver a special lecture on March 26.
This conference will bring together vice-chancellors, registrars, professors, and research scholars from various Indian universities, along with experts and thinkers in social and political sciences, the organisers said in the statement. PTI GMS KH
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