Gokak agitation

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The Gokak agitation (Kannada: ಗೋಕಾಕ್ ಚಳುವಳಿ) was a successful language rights agitation in the 1980s that fought for the first-language status of the Kannada language in the South Indian state of Karnataka.

It was named after the committee headed by V. K. Gokak that had recommended giving primacy to Kannada in state schools. Actor Rajkumar led the campaign.

Background

Karnataka had adopted the three language formula for education in schools since the linguistic reorganization of states in 1956. Strong opposition to Hindi was witnessed in the 1960s and '70s, leading to Kannada speakers leaning towards English. It was also felt that Kannada faced threat from Sanskrit, which was the dominant language in schools, leading to a situation where students could complete their high school education without having to study Kannada. This created a wide incompatibility between languages used for state administration and education.^[1]

See also

• Finland's language strife

References

Further reading

• B. Mallikarjun, "Language policy for education in Indian states: Karnataka", in Language in India, Vol.2: 9 December 2002 accessed at Feb 20, 2007
• Harikumar, K. N. "Language and Democracy". Deccan Herald. kannadasaahithya.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2006.

External links

• N.C. Gundu Rao, "Rewind and replay: Reflections on the Gokak agitation", Deccan Herald, Nov 30, 2004