Karnataka: Higher Education Dept. cancels event on Deendayal Upadhyay at KSOU following protocol violation row

The Department of Higher Education on Tuesday cancelled the three-day conference on Hindutva ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya scheduled to start on the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) premises in Mysuru from Wednesday after rejecting the reply given by Vice-Chancellor Sharanappa V. Halase.

Hourse after Prof. Halase claimed that the ‘Ekatma Manav Darshan – Bharat’s Worldview’ was a “private programme” and the KSOU had merely rented its convocation hall to the organisers for the event, N. Kumar, Deputy Secretary to the Government (Universities) in a letter to the Vice-Chancellor, noted that the invitation card for the programme mentioned the university as the “Hosting University,” and carried the university’s logo, while Prof. Halase himself was presiding over the programme.

“Therefore, there are no valid grounds to accept the explanation furnished in your written statement,” noted the letter.

The ‘Ekatma Manav Darshan – Bharat’s Worldview’, commemorating 60 years of Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya’s lectures, organised by Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation and Prajna Pravah on the KSOU campus, had sparked a row with the State government opposing the event citing protocol violation and issuing a show cause notice to Prof. Halase.

Rent paid later

The letter by the Higher Education Department referred to documents, apparently on the payment of rent for the venue by the organisers to KSOU, and said it is evident that the rental amount for the programme was collected from the concerned organisation after the issue was raised during Zero Hour in the Legislative Council. “Although the programme is stated to be private and outside the purview of the university, no justification has been provided for the use of the university’s logo”.

Subject matter

As the objective and subject matter of the conference are also found to be inconsistent with the aims and objectives of the university, granting permission for a private programme in violation of government guidelines, rules, and protocol cannot be accepted, the government said before cancelling the programme with immediate effect.

Earlier, when asked by The Hindu whether he was attending the programme, Prof. Halase said the organisers had invited him to the conference ‘out of courtesy’. As Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot, who is also the Chancellor of the University, had been invited for the programme, the Vice-Chancellor said protocol demands that he receive the Governor.

Responding to the show-cause notice, Prof. Halase had sought to clarify that the conference was not an official programme of the KSOU. “The role of the university is limited solely to providing the venue on rental basis,” he said.

KSOU possesses one of the most modern and spacious auditoriums in the region with a large seating capacity, and the university, which is a self-financing institution, permits the use of this facility on a rental basis for conferences, seminars, symposiums, and other academic activities for “revenue generation and optimal utilisation of resources”, he said.

Logo row

Responding to the use of the university’s emblem on the communication sent by the organisers to the Department of Collegiate Education, inviting participation from the faculty, Prof. Halase said the logo on the invitation was used only to facilitate the participation of KSOU’s PhD scholars, students, and faculty. “It is customary for external organisers using the university’s facilities to extend invitations to our academic community, and occasionally invite the Vice-Chancellor as chief guest,” he added.