The Kannada Development Authority (KDA) has launched a major initiative to introduce Kannada language education in around 2,000 madrasas across Karnataka, beginning with a training programme for 180 madrasa teachers in Bengaluru.
Inaugurating the workshop on Tuesday, August 5, KDA Chairman Purushottam Bilimale said the effort was aimed at strengthening communication and mutual understanding between communities through the state language.
“No community should be subject to humiliation through language. Any community that learns the state language gains the spirit to live harmoniously in the land they reside. Hence, it is vital for minorities to learn Kannada,” Dr Bilimale said.
The KDA is also preparing 100 books under the title ‘Foundations of Kannada Language Harmony for Students’, which will be released soon to aid the programme.
Dr Bilimale further suggested that the Urdu Academy be brought under the Department of Kannada and Culture — similar to other language academies — without stripping away its autonomy.
Responding to the proposal, Minority Welfare Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan assured that necessary action would be taken. He also announced plans to extend Kannada lessons to maulvis working in mosques.
U Nisar Ahmed, Chairman of the Karnataka State Minorities Commission, said that Kannada classes will soon be introduced in all madrasas across the state, with the KDA set to print the syllabus for the programme.
As part of its broader efforts to protect, develop and expand Kannada, the KDA had earlier announced in April 2024 that the programme would first be implemented in select madrasas on a pilot basis to gauge the response.
Bilimale had clarified that the teaching of Kannada would be optional, not mandatory, and expressed hope that binding Urdu and Kannada together would bring communities closer. He said the plan involves identifying Muslim youth to teach Kannada using a specially prepared textbook for non-Kannada speakers, adding that the initiative would proceed only with the full cooperation of madrasas.