Karnataka minister and Congress leader Priyank Kharge.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Karnataka minister and Congress leader Priyank Kharge on Sunday took strong exception to a recent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) meeting at the Central University of Karnataka (CUK), calling it an effort at saffronisation that was deteriorating education in the country.
Taking to social media platform X, Kharge wrote, "The Central University of Karnataka was established by Sri [Mallikarjun Kharge] to meet the educational aspirations of students in the Kalyana Karnataka region. However, instead of providing quality education, the CUK has turned into an RSS Shakha."
"There is a strong need to stem this. Over the past decade, the infiltration of pracharaks into government institutions has been extensive, leading to a complete deterioration and rot in the system," Kharge added, tweeting a video of the meeting.
The meeting, which took place on July 18 but came to light later, was attended by around 100 students and faculty members, as per a report by The Hindu.
The attendees included the varsity's Registrar, R R Biradar, Liaison Officer Basavaraj M Somanamaradi, and faculty members Basavaraj Donur, Venkataramana Dodi and Rohinaksha Shirlalu, among others. Some RSS functionaries from outside the university attended the meet as well, reported the publication.
A video of the meeting, which is in circulation on social media, showed the faculty members and students attending the meeting singing Namaste Sada Vatsale, an anthem routinely sung in RSS shakhas across the country.
While some participants said that the meeting was organised to mark the RSS completing 100 years in September, others called the meeting "condemnable".
The Vice Chancellor of CUK, Battu Satyanarayana, however, justified the decision to allow the meet, telling The Hindu, "There are different students and faculty members in CUK with different ideological backgrounds. We cannot allow some and deny others the opportunity to organise programmes."
"We allowed the SC-ST Employees’ Association to hold a meeting. We allowed Bihar students to celebrate Bihari Diwas. We allowed this meeting on similar lines. There were no outsiders at the meeting. Only CUK faculty members and students attended the meeting. RSS is not a banned outfit. My focus is on academic activities, and maintaining a high standard of teaching and research in the university. I don’t get distracted by these things," he was quoted as saying.