Hindi signages at Bengaluru metro stations covered after massive online ‘Hindi Beda’ protest

Hindi signage at the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Station, Majestic and Chickpete was completely covered up after online protests The Upparpete police acted on a tip-off and asked for the signage to be covered up to prevent the stations from being vandalised Pro-Kannada organisations along with several Bengaluru citizens have been protesting what they claim is Hindi-imposition by the center

After the massive anti-Hindi imposition online campaign the Hindi signage at the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Station, Majestic and Chickpete was completely covered up.

The campaign started when several Bengaluru citizens questioned the usage of Hindi in the Metro signboards. This started the Twitter trend #NammaMetroHindiBeda.

Kannada Rakshana Vedike President Narayana Gowda too raised the issue with metro officials back in June.

Even Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had spoken of lodging a protest with the centre on Hindi imposition. He said that Bengaluru metro was not a central government project and hence Hindi should not be used on the sign boards. He had also criticised Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu's statement that everyone in the country should learn Hindi.

On Sunday, July 2, 2017, the Hindi signage at Majestic and Chickpete metro stations were masked after Upparpet police station got a tip-off that pro-Kannada organisations were planning to enter Kempegowda and Chickpete stations and blacken all signage in Hindi.

Extra security was provided to the two metro stations.

The Hindu quoted a senior police official saying, “We were requested to provide security by the BMRCL, and we have deployed our policemen besides the Karnataka Industrial Security Force personnel.”

As news of the cover-up of Hindi signs spread, the #NammaMetroHindiBeda campaign gained steamed again on Sunday. Metro users from neighbouring Maharashtra got influenced by it, and #AapaliMetroHindiNako was trending in the evening.