Recently, a post by a resident of Bengaluru surfaced on X. It states that people from North India and neighbouring states must learn Kannada language to visit Bengaluru. This X post has yet again stirred up a debate online about whether people from non-Kannada-speaking states are allowed in the state. In this blog, we will take a look at the X post that started the debate and some of the reactions people gave to it.
History of the Language Conflict
The first incident of language conflict cited most often is the anti-Hindi movement in Tamil Nadu in the 1960s. In the early 1960s or 1965, to be precise, the central government of India made several attempts to enforce Hindi as the sole official language and pushed it to the non-Hindi-speaking states.
These attempts elicited mass protests in various places in Tamil Nadu. Many saw this policy as an imposition that undermined their language and cultural heritage. The strong opposition left no choice but to reach a mutual agreement under which English was made an associate official language to ensure that Hindi speakers didn’t feel disadvantageous in the state.
As this agreement was made, neighbouring states like Karnataka or Mysore also started protesting, demanding that the Kannada language be given primacy in education, administration, and public life. Similar protests erupted even after this. However, the final nail in the coffin came in the early 2000s when Bengaluru started becoming the IT hub of India, and an influx of non-Kannada-speaking people started in the city.
This spurred up the Kannada language debate with even more intensity; the language debate has been going on ever since. In moments like these, some people post things like “Bengaluru is closed for anyone not willing to speak in the Kannada”, which reflects the sentiment of people regarding their regional identity and love for their language.
How Did People React to Learn Kannada Post?
After reading the post we mentioned in the beginning, many people took to X and shared their mixed views on the subject. One user wrote, “Areey waah. Someone just posted a message in English saying one region of India is closed to people from other regions of India who don’t want to learn Kannada. Reading this post, Britishers would be smiling now.” Another one wrote, “As a Kannadiga, please don’t mind this retard and people like him. We have many COVID-19 after-effects people acting in such a way. You all are welcome here.”
Many people supported the post, too. One person said, “I believe that only Kannada language should be used in Karnataka, and all other languages, including English, should be restricted. If someone argues for the use of English, the same reasoning should apply to other languages as well. Consider this thoughtfully and not out of animosity.” While another one wrote, “Good move. Being a person respecting Kannadigas, I request you to create awareness among Kannadigas to speak Kannada so that those who really want to learn Kannada may get opp.”
So, the fact of the matter is that “ Bengaluru Closed for people who can’t speak Kannada Language” is just how some people in the state feel. This does not talk about the mentality of the entire state. More importantly, this is not a mandate under the laws of India or the state.
