Amid the ongoing row over North Indian vs Kannada, a video of a Bihari youth from Muzaffarpur claiming that he’s being harassed for being a non-Kannadiga has gone viral on social media.
The incident took place near Mahalakshmi Puram in North Bengaluru where an altercation broke out between a young man from Bihar and some customers over a soiled note. Amid the heated exchange, one of the customers allegedly abused and hurled xenophile remarks against the youth for not being able to speak Kannada.
In retaliation, the man, identified as Nitish, took to Facebook to call out the alleged abuse. Reportedly, the youth, who worked in a bakery, left for Bihar just a day after the incident.
Shameful incident of racism coming out from Karnataka. Man of Bihar exposing the xenophobia of locals.Such mentality must not be accepted in 21st century India. All of India is for all Indians. Very heartbreaking to see such videos. pic.twitter.com/RjNXNK1QCK
— BALA (@erbmjha) April 12, 2023
Speaking to CNN News 18, the owner of the bakery and Nitish’s employer alleged that he faced similar abuse in the past also for not being able to speak in Kannada.
“It happened when I was not here. One of the customers gave a torn note in exchange for the food, to which Nitish raised objections post and the customers began to abuse Nitesh,” the bakery owner said.
ACP Bengaluru North division arrived at the spot and took stock of the incident. Commissioner CH Pratap Reddy told Network 18 that the police have registered a suo moto case in the matter and are in touch with the Bihari man.
“We also came across the man’s social media post. Proactively our team from the North division has contacted the individual who has posted this and is in touch with the youth from Bihar. As per the preliminary probe, the incident took place on April 7 when an altercation broke out between a bakery worker and a few customers in the Kannada language. We have launched our suo-moto enquiry in the matter,” said the Commissioner.
The Commissioner further requested the public to reach out to the police instead of posting such sensitive content on social media.
Read all the Latest India News here