Gokak varadi and Dr. Rajkumar

admin — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:50:45 +0000

Gokak varadi and Dr. Rajkumar

The “Gokak report” popularly known as “Gokak varadi” was about making Kannada a compulsary language for primary education. Considering that the language is spoken by a majority of people in Karnataka, the Gokak movement’s goal was to give Kannada the same basic right already enjoyed by other official languages in their respective states of India. When the Kannada literary experts and students started this movement there was a popular positive response from the common man in Karnataka. It gained momentum when Rajkumar was asked to lead the movement. He became actively involved in the movement and soon became the force behind the Gokak movement that was designed to bring Kannada to the forefront. He took a rally from Belgaum to Bangalore and gave speeches about the importance of Kannada. The government responded positively and Kannada was to become a compulsary language of education in Karnataka. Ensuring respect and dignity for Kannada language and Kannada culture were the corner stones of his life.

When he played activist
The historic Gokak movement saw Rajkumar take an activist’s stand in public life. “I am ready for any sacrifice for the sake of Kannada land and language,” he declared, and stood by his words too.

To trace the time-line: It is nearly 25 years since the Gokak movement. Rajkumar himself had recently crossed 50 years in cinema. The man and the movement are both a memory now.

Kannada Sahitya Parishat President Prof Chandrashekar Patil who was alongside Rajkumar during the Gokak movement told Deccan Herald that the movement took the proportion of a ‘people’s movement’ only after Rajkumar joined in. He explained thus:

On April 2, 1982, the Jail Bharo andolan had begun under the leadership of senior litterateur Shambha Joshi. Writers like Kuvempu, Masti Venkatesh Iyengar, Dr. Shivaram Karanth were asked to join in but they refused. Rajkumar was in Madras then; we made an appeal to him through the media. His ready response in support appeared in the newspapers the very next day. His statement from Madras said that he would give up his all for the sake of Kannada and would fight for it no matter what form the fight might take. It was a verbal stroke that absorbed him into the cause entirely. Later on, he travelled all over the State with the other leaders enlisting support for the movement.

Sources:

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/apr132006/state1930422006412.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr. _Rajkumar

Dr. Rajkumar - Annavaru » literary

Gokak varadi and Dr. Rajkumar