Syndicate member asks V-C to cancel seminar on Bhagavad Gita on Kuvempu University campus

Shivamogga-based advocate and Kuvempu University syndicate member K.P. Sripal has written to Vice-chancellor Professor Sharath Ananthamurthy to cancel a one-day seminar on Bhagavad Gita and Prevention of Crime, scheduled to be held on the campus on November 18.

In a letter to the V-C on November 17, Mr. Sripal took exception to holding the seminar on the topic in a university named after Kuvempu, who gave the Vishwamanava Sandesha (the message of universal man). “The seminar organised on the campus is part of the communal ideology. The Sangh Parivar is entering university campuses through various programmes to fill students’ minds with the Manusmriti more than the Constitution. The Bhagavad Gita Abhiyana is one such programme,” he wrote.

Further, he stated that, according to his understanding, the Bhagavad Gita justified the Chaturvarna system, which divides people. The system is contrary to the fundamental ideals of the Constitution of India. “It is the responsibility of everyone to ensure certain ideologies do not creep into universities,” he said.

He remarked that a majority of the people being invited to speak at the seminar were active members of an organisation that propagates right-wing ideology and opposes Mahatma Gandhi, Basavanna and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.