Rural-urban divide getting wider: Kambara

Jnanapith awardee Dr Chandreshekar Kambara said the divide between rural and urban areas is getting wider as English mode of education is instrumental in destroying the essence of rustic India.

He was speaking after inaugurating the Manipal International Literature and Arts Platform (Milap) Fest here.

Kambara said India had wonderful movements which introduced the country to extreme renaissance and transformed the soil drastically. “The country which witnessed the Bhakthi movement had a unique opportunity to ensure that the devotees interacted with their God in the local rustic language,” he added.

He said English education, introduced by Lord Macaulay in 19th century, affected all vernacular languages. “The British made English the official language and the local people blindly accepted their orders,” he regretted.

Kambara said language has also increased the gap between urban and rural areas. “The villages have memories to cherish and the cities are only attached to legacy. Urbanisation has indeed lost heights and depth,” he observed.

He said English literature always addresses individual, while Sanskrit and other vernacular languages are community oriented. Innocence still looms large in  rural India. Memories in rural India created myths, songs, rituals and tales. Ironically, the English education separated the countrymen from the past. The British tried to make Indians realise that learning Sanskrit is waste and were partially successful, he felt.

Veteran Kannada writer Vaidehi condemned the recent murder of  journalist Gauri Lankesh.

“The voice of different thoughts cannot be snubbed through violence. It is disheartening to observe that thinkers and the people, who promote ideologies, are massacred mercilessly. The heinous crime is echoing all over. The murderers should
think that voice cannot be stopped by just bullets,” she reiterated.

Vaidehi said creativity cannot be destroyed. More and more voices, seeking justice and secular equality will get louder. It is myth that the flow of thoughts can be disparaged, she stressed.

She lamented that the real purpose of education is losing its essence and  sensibility is lost in education. “There is no value for silence, talk or life. Humanity is forgotten and seriousness is laced with all unwanted evils in the society,” she regretted.

Manipal University vice-chancellor Dr Vinod Bhat emphasised on the role of arts and music while imbibing humanitarian values.