Bengaluru, March 25 Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra accused the Congress government in the state of engaging in "hate politics" and "political interference" on Wednesday, as he criticised its decision to cancel a conference on the philosophy of Hindutva ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya, scheduled at the KSOU premises in Mysuru.
He urged Higher Education Minister M C Sudhakar to allow the event to proceed.
"Ekatma Manava Darshan – Bharat's Worldview, an international academic conference, was to be organised by the Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation at the Karnataka State Open University. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was supposed to attend the event, but the state government has suddenly ordered the cancellation of the event and has issued a notice to the Vice-Chancellor," Vijayendra said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, this is nothing but "hate politics".
"They are obstructing even the event being organised at the university. This government has brought a Bill against hate speech during the Belagavi legislative session, but action has to be taken against the state government (for hate). Such political interference, even in the field of education, is not good for the government," he said, as he urged the minister to rectify the mistake and allow the event to be held.
The Department of Higher Education cancelled the three-day conference on Tuesday.
Earlier, KSOU Vice-Chancellor Sharanappa V Halase was served a show cause notice for permitting the event to be held at the university.
Minister Sudhakar defended the government's decision to stop the event on Tuesday, saying public universities must remain apolitical and free from ideological influence.
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."
According to a earlier release by organisers, the "Ekatma Manava Darshan", International Academic Conference was scheduled to be held from March 25 to March 27 at the Convocation Hall of KSOU, Mysuru, in collaboration with Prajna Pravah, Karnataka, and the Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation.
The event was to commemorate 60 years of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya's historic lectures on "Ekatma Manav Darshan".
"Ekatma Manava Darshan" is a philosophy based on Indian vision, spirituality, and sociology that seeks to achieve balance and harmony between the individual, society, and nature, it said.