#nammametrohindibeda: Show cause notice issued to Namma Metro
- Glaring usage of Hindi in Namma Metro is strongly protested by Bengalureans, who suspect that it is a backdoor entry for imposition of Hindi.
- The regional language policy adopted by the State government has been violated by Metro.
- In some nameboards, even English has been removed and only Kannada and Hindi are displayed.
- Hindi population in Bengaluru is mere two per cent whereas highest language spoken after Kannada is Telugu, Urdu and Tamil.
FollowThe wind of protest against using Hindi in Namma Metro is gathering strength and if BMRCL does not wake up it is in for a shocker. The #namamtreohindibeda campaign has already become popular and now the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) has sent a show cause notice to the BMRCL demanding why it is imposing Hindi unnecessarily despite both State and Centre not insisting on Hindi in all nameboards, announcements.
BMRCL is a state-owned company. Even if it is a joint venture between State and Centre, imposing Hindi should not be on its agenda. KDA chairman SG Siddaramaiah has questioned the reason behind this imposition of “a 600 year-old language on a 2,300 year-old language,” reports Kannada Prabha.
Arun Javagal of Banavasi Balaga who started the #nammametrohindibeda campaign which quickly gathered storm getting 10,98,000 supporters in two hours, says the Centre receives Rs 1 lakh crore tax from Karnataka and a subsidy of Rs 3000 crore for Metro does not necessitate overriding the State. Also the BMRCL officials themselves have confessed that they were not given instructions both by the State and the Central governments to use Hindi in Metro. Then whose handiwork is this, says Javagal.
The pro-Kannada organisations have not taken lightly to imposing Hindi in Metro. The Karnataka rakshana Vedike (Narayana Gowda faction) is planning to stage a protest and lay siege to BMRCL office at Shanthinagar on Friday. They allege that MD Pradeep Singh Kharola is responsible for using Hindi in Metro. They are protesting to oust him from the post, reports Kannada Prabha.
Vatal Nagaraj , President, Kannada Okkoota, asked that when we are protesting using Hindi in Malls how can we tolerate Hindi in Metro? KDA has asked BMRCL to send an explanation within a week and take action to remove it at the earliest. In fact the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself had said that the second largest used language in Bengaluru is Telugu and then Urdu, followed by Tamil. If the Metro has to have a 3-language policy it should use Telugu rather than Hindi which has mere 2 per cent presence in the Capital.
The sentiment that everyone is expressing is why call it “namma” (our) if BMRCL has to impose a language that is not ours.
