Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

`Communalism will destroy languages'

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE APRIL 5. The noted woman writer in Kannada, Sara Aboobakkar, has said that communalism is all set to destroy regional language and culture, as communal forces have cultivated the tendency to identify themselves with major languages such as Hindi and Urdu.

She was addressing a seminar on "Relationship beyond language — women's voices in Indian literature after Independence", organised by Karnataka Lekhakiyara Sangha and the Southern Regional office of the Kendra Sahitya Academy, here on Friday.

Ms. Aboobakkar explained the plight of Kashmiri literature which had been marginalised by Hindi and Urdu in its own land.

She said that in the South too, parochial tendencies had been creating hurdles in the development of literature. It was ironical that we know more about European literature than about the literature of Indian languages, she added.

U.R. Ananthamurthy, Jnanpith award winner, who presided over the seminar, said the problems of women were universal and not confined to one caste or one religion.

However, solutions were being found, as women were in the forefront of social and economic development in the country, he added.

Emphasising Ms. Aboobakkar's observation on the plight of regional languages, Dr. Ananthamurthy said no regional language could feel marginalised in a place such as Bangalore. Kannada would benefit if Tamil literature grew in Bangalore, and vice-versa, he added.

The Governor, V.S. Rama Devi, who inaugurated the seminar, wished that the practice of identifying writers as male or female would stop.

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