Vedike: Make Kannada administrative language along with Hindi

Protests by Kannada outfits took place across the city on Wednesday. The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike staged a protest at Freedom Park against Hindi Diwas, which is celebrated on September 14 every year. President of KRV Narayana Gowda condemned the forceful imposition of Hindi in Karnataka.

 Arun Javagal, state organisation secretary of KRV, said, “When India is an accumulation of a varying number of languages, why is Hindi being given a special status? A ‘Bharatiya’ language day must be celebrated instead of the Hindi Diwas. It is blatantly discriminatory.” Questioning as to why Hindi has been given administrative status, Javagal added, “Why not make Kannada an administrative language too? Even Tamil for that matter.” He said that a particular language being given special treatment helps those belonging to the specific community alone and expressed his anger by enquiring, “Don’t we pay taxes too?”

Vatal Nagaraj, leader of the KCVP and former MLA in the state, was arrested by the Bengaluru police. Members of the KCVP had accumulated around the Mysore Bank Circle in order to protest against the celebration of Hindi Diwas and Hindi imposition by the government. “Kannada should be the administrative language in Karnataka, and Kannadigas must be provided job opportunities in Karnataka,” Nagaraj said before being arrested, while addressing media personnel.

He also added that the BJP and RSS are agents and slaves of Hindi, while alleging that the Bommai government takes no pride in the Kannada language, hence leading them to impose Hindi. He further said that programmes for anyone coming from Delhi must be conducted in Kannada and claimed that people of ‘Kannada Nadu’ do not want Hindi officers in government posts across the state.