CII meet marred by language row

NT Correspondent

 Bengaluru

The ‘Sankalp se Siddhi’ conference organised by the Ministry of Culture and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, got caught up in a language row. The absence of Kannada sign boards during the event, evoked a lot of criticism from the netizens.

Many took to social media to express their disappointment with the imposition of Hindi. One of the Twitter users said, “Bommai was also present at the event. Still, there was no Kannada signboard. This is Hindi imposition on us. There should be mandatory Kannada boards if the event is in Karnataka.

” Several Kannada organizations have also condemned this. “Our country has several states where every state has a specific language. The government should respect that. Imposing Hindi on us as a national language is hurtful for our regional identity. We take pride in our language and the government should respect that,” said Narayana Gowda, president, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike.

Gowda also expressed his concerns over alleged Hindi imposition in government offices and educational institutes.

 “If you are in Karnataka, Kannada should be given maximum importance. It is the responsibility of the government to encourage Kannada usage everywhere in offices, programs, cultural events etc,” he said. Pro-Kannada organisations have also demanded that the organisers of the ‘Sankalp se Siddhi’ event should issue a notification regarding the incident.

The event was addressed by senior government ministers, policymakers, industry leaders and civic society members. The conference was based on the theme, ‘New India, New Resolve’ in Bengaluru, on Thursday to commemorate the 75th year of independence.