Several Kannada activists have decried the treatment meted out to the members of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) who blackened the Hindi signage outside Namma Metro stations recently.
Demanding that the cases booked under section 153A (instigating communal tension/ clash) of the Indian Penal Code be withdrawn immediately, the activists also urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to transfer Praveen Sood, City Police Commissioner, for his “excessive action” against the KRV members, besides making the government’s stand on imposition of Hindi clear.
Chandrashekhara Patil, Kannada writer and former president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, said that the Kannada activists would continue with their agitation against the imposition of Hindi. Defending the KRV members, he said that they had resorted to a symbolic protest and had not disrupted Namma Metro services. Echoing this, P.V. Narayan, Kannada writer, sought to know why the centre was imposing Hindi and why other regional languages were not being given the same importance as Hindi.
Stating that the police filing cases under section 153A had “dangerous implications,” actor and playwright Prakash Belawadi said the State government was trying to create a divide among citizens. “This is an irresponsible and arrogant action by the government. Why is civil disobedience being treated so harshly,” he asked.
Anand Guru of Banawasi Balaga sought to know why Mr. Siddaramaiah was not insisting on the removal of Hindi signage on Namma Metro, a State government project. “Is it because the State government wants to keep the issue alive and use it politically against the BJP? The NDA government may have sanctioned funds, but a majority of the funding has come from the State government,” he said.
M. Venkataswamy of Samata Sainik Dal, B.R. Bhaskar Prasad from the Federation of Karnataka Dalit Associations, Vasu of Karnataka Janashakti, Samirulla Khan from the Akhila Karnataka Mohamadeeyara Vedike, and Rafael Raj of Akhila Karnataka Catholic Christians Kannada Sangha spoke.