‘We have no free environment for dialogues’

Karnataka Higher Education Academy chairman M. Chandra Poojary has said there has been no conducive environment for free exchange of views on many issues at present times.

He took part in a panel discussion held as part of the convention on “Knowledge in Society” at Kuvempu University on Thursday.

“Can I freely counter the claims popularised through the media that one would get moksha by taking a bath in Sangam, where water is not fit for taking a bath? Are we not afraid of engaging in such a debate now? Then where is the free environment for dialogue?” he asked.

Dialogue between two individuals could be possible only when they share mutual respect. “When the director of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras stated that cow urine was safe to drink, I should have the liberty to oppose his view. Do we have such an environment in universities?” he asked.

Further, stating that the democracy had failed, Mr. Poojary blamed the universities and the teachers for its failure. “There are many people with criminal backgrounds in State Assemblies and Parliament. They get elected by spending crores of rupees during the election and raking up the issue of caste. We, the teachers in universities, are responsible for the failure,” he said.

Regarding the traditional knowledge systems, he said that he would also agree that the common people had a repository of knowledge. However, he would oppose romanticising that knowledge. “We need to review it. Our farmers have been farming using traditional knowledge. However, our teachers failed to initiate a dialogue with them,” he said.

Prof. Krishnamurthy Hanuru, theatre personality K.V. Akshara, Prof. Basavaraj Kalgudi, social activist Du. Saraswathi, Prof. K.Y. Narayanaswamy, Santhosh Naik, and others participated in the discussion.