It seems like the ‘Kannada in Bengaluru’ controversy is never-ending. In fact, hardly a week passes without social media posts vehemently arguing either in favour or against speaking in Kannada in the Karnataka capital.
Published Sep 16, 2024 | 7:56 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 16, 2024 | 7:56 PM
A signboard in Bengaluru in Kannada and English.
It seems like the ‘Kannada in Bengaluru’ controversy is never-ending. In fact, hardly a week passes without social media posts vehemently arguing either in favour or against speaking in Kannada in the Karnataka capital.
The posts go viral in no time with pro and anti-Kannada posts freely exchanging barbs on social media, especially on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).
Take for example the month of September. There were at least four posts in the first 15 days of the month with no-holds-barred trading of charges from both sides.
The first was a post that said, “Bengaluru belongs to Kannadigas”, the second was about a German woman, Jennifer, speaking in near-fluent Kannada saying that she wanted to speak to everyone in Kannada in Karnataka, even as she took a round of fruits and vegetables market in Mysuru.
Shortly afterwards, a woman crossed all limits of decency as she wrote: “All the progress that this city is because of the people who are coming here and working, who are paying taxes, who are paying rents to these f***kers who are buying food, who are buying vegetables because of this entire economy in Bangalore is running and this is how these d***heads behave.”
Most, including north Indians, decried her language. Some Kannadigas wanted the government to take action against her for creating hostility in society. Another wanted her to return and earn money from and for her state.
Two days ago, one Rekha lashed out at Swiggy for not deploying delivery executives who know Kannada.
“Bengaluru is in Karnataka or Pakistan @swiggy? Your delivery guy neither speaks nor understands Kannada, nor even English. Do you expect us to learn his state language Hindi in our land? Stop imposing things on us and ensure your delivery persons know Kannada.”
As expected, sparks flew. Within hours, the post went viral and garnered over 2.5 lakh views and thousands of comments were exchanged.
Whenever there is a new post on Kannada in Bengaluru, the netizens get enraged in favour and against Kannada. If the Hindi-speaking X users leave no opportunity to take potshots at Kannadigas, the latter won’t lag in hitting back. Nearly similar views are exchanged whenever a new post adorns social media on the topic.
It must be pointed out that over the years, Kannadigas, efficient as they have been in bringing Bengaluru to the IT forefront, have become strident in exhibiting their pro-Kannada views, and a few organisations have been set up to defend the state language in no uncertain terms.
“I am not against any language including Hindi. But I am opposed to the imposition of any language. Also, when you have come to work in a different state and intend to stay here for a long period of time, try to learn the local language, if not at least learn to respect the local culture”, said Praveen, a 26-year-old IT worker.
“What irks me is that most people who come here for work think Hindi is a national language and it is the duty of everyone to learn that language. They are so ignorant that they don’t know there is no such thing as the national language in this country,” he added.
Diwakar, who hails from Hubballi and now resides in Bengaluru, said, “It is funny that people from north India say the city has developed because of them. Sorry sir, our city was already developed when you came here in search of livelihood. Don’t be under the illusion and false entitlement that the city developed because you came here. Would you have left your state and descended here if Bengaluru was not a developed city?”
Why is there so much animosity towards Hindi? It is all about the imposition of the language.
For decades, the Kannadigas had to live with this imposition, especially when it came to the bank and other civil service examinations by the Union government. These exams used to be only in English and Hindi.
“Why the Hindi imposition in Karnataka? How many people understand how to write and speak that language? And why should I not write the exam in my mother tongue?” were the common questions.
Finally, thanks to the persistent fight by the pro-Kannada people and organisations — certainly not because of Karnataka politicians — things have changed. Now, most of these examinations are conducted also in Kannada.
However, the Hindi imposition in banks has not changed a bit. The forms (challans) are still only in English and Hindi — and not in Kannada — and you rarely see a Kannadiga in the branches, especially in rural areas in public sector banks. Issues like these, many say, have given rise to anti-Hindi feelings among the people of Karnataka.
On top of this, over the last several years, nearly all the Union government schemes, programmes and policies are titled in Hindi which the people in Karnataka — in fact in the entire South, save Hyderabad – do not understand. The latest in the case is the complete Hindi-isation of the new and changed criminal procedure code, the evidence act etc.
Interestingly, there was nothing against Hindi in Bengaluru. Decades ago, it was more against Tamil language and Tamils, largely because of the domination of Tamils in Bengaluru and later, the neighbouring state’s demand for Cauvery, a river which originates in Karnataka.
The tide against Hindi imposition came with the introduction of the Metro service in the city in 2011. Kannadigas erupted against the signages and announcements which were in Hindi (besides Kannada and English).
As an agitation was launched against the imposition of Hindi in Metro, the authorities hurriedly withdrew Hindi signages and announcements.
Recently, the city saw demand for prominence for Kannada in boards and hoardings in the city. The BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) supported this move but the Karnataka High Court stayed the order.
As for political parties, unlike the BJP, the Congress has been espousing the cause of Kannada and Kannadigas over the years.
(BS Arun is a Bengaluru-based journalist. Just for the record, he worked in Delhi for over 20 years, learnt Hindi and even participated in Hindi TV debates)
