Mangaluru : Tulu – Kodava Bhashegala Alivu – Ulivu, a collection of speeches by B K Hariprasad in the Parliament, demanding recognition for Tulu and Kodava languages, was released by the former vice-chancellor of Karnataka Folklore University and folklore expert, Prof K Chinnappa Gowda.

Speaking on the occasion, MLC B K Hariprasad said that Hindi is not the national language but only a communicative official language. “Just like the 22 official languages, including Kannada, Hindi is also an official language. If Hindi is being made a national language, then Kannada should also be given the same status,” he said.

Seeking the inclusion of Tulu in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, the MLC said that more than 20 lakh people speak the language. “When an MP from Kerala sought recognition for Tulu in the Parliament, the Central government had clarified that there was no such proposal before it to include the language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. In spite of so much demand, it is a tragedy that it is not included,” he said.

“The Central government has spent Rs 1,040 crore for the promotion of Hindi and Rs 940 crore for Sanskrit. However, Kannada gets only Rs three 3 crore. There should not be any disparity,” he said.

While 19,000 languages are spoken in India, Bengaluru has people speaking 108 different languages and Pune 98 languages. “Instead of respecting this multi-culture, the government is going ahead with the ideologies of ‘One Nation, One Ration’, ‘One Nation, One Election’ and ‘One Nation, One Education'”, Hariprasad said.