Police look on as Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists take out rallies, publicly abusing and issuing ultimatum to non-Kannadiga traders to change their signboards.
Published Dec 24, 2023 | 10:00 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 24, 2023 | 10:00 AM
The KRV rally in Bengaluru. (Supplied)
Non-Kannadiga traders having their establishments in Bengaluru are a worried lot.
Activists of a pro-Kannada organisation, the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), are distributing pamphlets and abusing them over loudspeakers for having the signboards of their businesses in English or Hindi. The activists wanted the boards to dedicate 65 percent of its space to Kannada,
“This is Karnataka. You ‘Marvaris’ have come to this city seeking livelihoods. You conduct business in our land and make properties. You drink Cauvery water and still, you don’t respect the local language Kannada,” a man blared on Avenue Road, where several members of the ‘Marvari’ community have been engaged in textiles, stationeries, fancy items, and imitation jewellery businesses.
“The KRV activists’ took out rallies at the busy commercial hubs in Bengaluru — Gandhinagar, Chickpete, Balepete, Cottonpete, BVK Iyengar Road, Avenue Road, and the nearby areas — to create awareness among traders and shop owners that their shop names and logos in Kannada should dominate the board by 65 percent. This is clearly mentioned in the BBMP trade guidelines,” R Thyagaraj, Chickpete president of the KRV, told South First.
He justified the abuses amplified through loudspeakers. “We have been telling them for many years now, but they don’t seem to have understood the message. Hence, we decided to deliver a strong message. We have given them a month to change the name boards,” he added.
Thyagaraj, a Chickpete resident, said the KRV activists behind the campaign belonged to the TA Narayan Gowda faction of the Rakshana Vedike. They were also campaigning elsewhere in Bengaluru, such as Koramangala, BTM Layout, Madiwala, Jayanagar, Vijayanagar, HSR Layout, Lingarajpuram, Hebbal, Rajajinagar, etc.
Mohammed Pasha, the proprietor of a bag-stitching shop on Avenue Road told South First that the KRV’s rally came to Avenue Road a couple of days ago and showered profanities at the shopkeepers as if to instigate violence.
“There were two to three women and a man on top of the vehicle with a microphone. Another 10 to 15 men were walking alongside the vehicle that was followed by two to three cars and a police vehicle,” he told South First.
“They have given a month to alter the name boards to 65 percent Kannada, and if anyone does not follow it, they threatened to pull down the boards. The police remained mute spectators when the activists publicly abused the shopkeepers. However, the shopkeepers assured them to change the nameboards,” Pasha said.
A proprietor of a saree shop on Avenue Road, Sukhdev Goswami, opined that the KRV activists could have behaved in a more civilised and polite manner.
“They humiliated us as if we were second-class citizens. We are paying income tax, GST, property tax, and commercial tax and we are also paying for our Cauvery water that we drink. Having said that, we also respect the local language, culture, and people. We speak to our customers in Kannada, and our shops’ name boards have been there for a long time,” Goswami told South First.
“If they had any problem with the name board or display, they could have complained to the BBMP,” he added.
The traders, however, chose not to complain about the incident since they had seen the police team accompanying the rally — and for fear of reprisal.
KRV’s Thyagaraj said the aggressive campaign was the offshoot of a complaint the owner — a Maharashtrian — of Phoenix Mall of Asia in Hebbal had lodged against their leader Narayan Gowda.
A couple of weeks ago, a few KRV activists approached the mall’s management and demanded to hire more employees locally and avoid bringing workers from other states. They alleged that the migrant workers were paid less and dumped in small rooms. An argument ensued.
“We have learnt that the mall owner used his influence to register a case of intimidation against our KRV leader Narayan Gowda,” Thyagaraj said.
The KRV activists claimed that almost all malls in Bengaluru have more non-Kannadigas as employees. “Even Kannadigas are employed, they are mostly in outsourced contract jobs like housekeeping and security. This is not done,” Thyagaraj asserted.
Policemen accompanying the pro-Kannada activists and not reacting to the abusive language by them has further let the traders down. The police, however, insist their priority was law and order.
“No one has approached us with any complaints so far. Our police bandobust was to take care of law and order situations, and it was taken care of,” S Girish, DCP West told South First.
