A group of Kannada activists held a protest on Monday evening demanding that the State government withdraw cases against six activists who tore up a Hindi banner in the city on Saturday. The six arrested were granted bail by a city court on Monday evening.
Activists from various Kannada groups, led by Harish Kumar B. of Kannada Ranadheerara Pade, tore a Hindi banner at Ganesh Bagh prayer hall on Mahaveer Jain Road on Saturday, arguing that all signboards and banners need to be in Kannada. The activists themselves had broadcast it live on social media.
Later, the Commercial Street police arrested the six activists booking them under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code for “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.”
MP’s tweet
The issue soon took a political colour as Tejasvi Surya, BJP MP from Bengaluru South, gave a communal twist to the incident tweeting that the Jains were targeted by a few “rowdy elements” and wondered why Urdu was not targeted in the city. His tweet drew a huge backlash online forcing him to appeal to the Jains “to learn and use Kannada in their communication.” The protesters on Monday demanded that Mr. Surya apologise for calling Kannada activists “rowdy elements”.
Former Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah and H.D. Kumaraswamy also joined the campaign #ReleaseKannadaActivists. “The State government’s move to suppress Kannada movement through the police by giving it a communal and political colour is condemnable,” Mr. Siddaramaiah tweeted. Mr. Kumaraswamy said: “The State government should show its valour by getting the flood-hit State relief package from the Centre and not by targeting Kannada activists.”
CM clarifies
This forced Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to issue a clarification on Monday evening. “The government gives utmost priority to safeguard the interests of Kannada and Kannadigas and there will be no compromise in it. In Sunday’s incident, some action was taken to maintain law and order. The government does not intend to target Kannada activists,” he said in a statement.