Several thousand students in Karnataka who were on the verge of finding themselves out of school have secured a temporary reprieve, following a decision by the State Government not to disturb them until the end of the 2006-2007 academic year.
 
The academic future of the students hung in the balance following a recent decision by the Karnataka government to shut around 2000 primary schools that had violated the law on Kannada as the medium of instruction. According to the law, all primary schools (from Class 1 to 5) started after 1994 had to perforce teach in Kannada as the medium of instruction.
 
However, once the schools started functioning, Kannada was surreptitiously replaced by English as the educational medium in violation of the rule, the government alleged.
 
The move to suspend the schools triggered protests across the state. The government action against the erring schools would not have caused an uproar   had the timing been right.

Critics aver that instead of tackling basic issues, the government dug its heels over an issue that could have been handled firmly but without affecting the future of students.
 
The government kept students and parents on the tenterhooks for a few weeks before finally deciding to bow to public pressure. It has allowed the status quo to continue until the completion of the current academic year.
 
Probably, the issue could have been settled earlier had not the government been distracted by yet another controversy, this time sparked off by the alliance partner BJP's Higher Education Minister D H. Shankaramurthy who, quite inexplicably, alleged that the much-revered ruler of yore, Tipu Sultan, was anti-Kannada.
 
The widespread protests among intellectuals, ministerial colleagues and common people forced him on the backfoot, with his attention and time diverted to justifying his indefensible stance instead of trying to resolve the festering schools' closure issue.   Unable to countenance the heat generated by his statement, and under orders from the BJP high command in Delhi, Shankaramurthy was forced to retract the allegation.
 
Point of conflict
 
As if this were not enough, a prominent section of the BJP insisted on conducting rituals at the controversial Bababudangiri Sufi shrine in Chikmagalur district. The shrine which the Sangh Parivar claims is the site of a Hindu temple has been a point of conflict for several years. The previous Congress governments on the basis of court rulings had prevented the rituals from taking place on grounds of communal amity.  
 
The Bababudangiri issue is still to be resolved but the BJP's demand has placed the Janata Dal (S) in an unenviable situation with its secular credentials and administrative mismanagement in question.
 
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy  has attempted to put up a brave face in an attempt to cover up for the misdemeanours of his colleagues.   It was apparently at his behest that the government put off its decision to shut the primary schools.
 
But problems remain. The schools issue may have been temporarily resolved, and public opinion may have censured Shankaramurthy on the Tipu Sultan controversy, but the Bababudangiri issue lurks ready to occupy centre stage in the next few weeks. And, there is no guarantee that until then other embarrassments will not rear their head, like a recent television channel's sting operation that purported to show the chief minister's involvement in a land scam on the outskirts Bangalore. Mr Kumaraswamy has denied having anything to do with it….but the moot point is: how long will the government be able to put up with the incessant attacks on its credibility,   from within and without.