Rewind CITY 2022 Issues that Bengaluru stood up for this year

ITI workers’ protest turns one year

The ITI (Indian Telephone Industries Limited) workers’ protest turned one year old in December. Workers of ITI, one of the country’s largest public sector undertakings (PSUs), were sacked without notice, allegedly for attempting to unionise and demanding pay due to them in the lockdown period.

On April 28, 2022, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Communication, issued a letter that said all the workers who had been removed by the management of ITI would be taken back to service in a phased manner.

However, one year after the illegal termination, the words of the minister have not been adhered to, and the management has not taken the workers back.

Farmers protest against Global Investors Meet

Hundreds of farmers from across the state protested against the Global Investors’ Meet which happened in the city, alleging that the government, in the name of providing employment by attracting global investors, is selling away the state’s rich natural resources.

The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) which is part of the Department of Industries and Commerce is all set to acquire 1,777 acres of land from 13 villages in the Channarayapatna Hobli in Devanahalli to set up an industrial area in Haraluru.

Advocate Priya, who is representing the Devanahalli farmers’ objections, present at the protest to showcase her solidarity, said that the KIADB has not made an official mention of how much compensation they are willing to provide, how they are going to reconcile the farmers’ livelihoods or when they are going to do it.

“When it comes to the law, the government is only a party. We will continue to fight,” she had said. The Devanahalli farmers’ agitation also reached the 100-day mark and is continuing to date.

Citizens show solidarity with Bilkis, Teesta

Bengaluru showed up in big numbers to showcase their solidarity with Bilkis Banos. The Gujarat government approved the premature release of 11 men who were convicted for the gangrape of a pregnant woman and murder of 14 members of Bilkis’ family, including her three-year-old daughter.

Kotiganahalli Ramaiah, a Dalit poet and cultural activist from the state had said that the mobilisation put forth by Bengaluru as a city must be commended and seen as an achievement by other states.

“The doors of law are not yet entirely shut. The proof of this can be seen by the people gathered here to seek justice. The judiciary must take a deep dive and scrutinise the decision that has been taken with the Banos case,” he had said. Another protest was held in the Civil Court premises against the arrest of Teesta Setalvad by Bangalore advocates.

They also condemned the arrest of retired Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar and called for the release of Sanjiv Bhatt. B T Venkatesh, former state public prosecutor, said that Teesta has made rounds of visits to Bengaluru to be part of human rights causes when need be.

Activists rue lack of Kannada in govt hiring exams

The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) staged a protest against the lack of provision to take up government recruitment exams in regional languages. Kannada activists and local aspirants were outraged after the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) announced that the Combined Graduate Level Examination—2022 to fill 20,000 vacancies in various union government departments would be conducted only in English and Hindi.

BMTC runs over student at BU campus

Protests broke out on the premises of Bangalore University’s Jnanabharathi campus soon after a postgraduate student succumbed after being run over by a BMTC bus. The 22-year-old is a first-year MSc student and was reportedly run over while trying to board the bus.

The protestors demanded an entire ban on the movement of public vehicles within the premises of the campus, along with other traffic regulations that would curb private vehicular movement too. Students claimed that there have been multiple accidents on campus, only in the span of a few months, owing to the lack of speed bumps and negligence by authorities to maintain oversight.