Will remove Hindi signage at Metro stations: Karnataka Rakshana Vedike

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) has declared that they will set a date to protest and forcibly remove or cover Hindi signanges at Namma Metro stations. The group, which had earlier launched the #Namma Metro Hindi Beda campaign, conducted a round table conference on Saturday, demanding 'language equality in India and protest against imposition of Hindi at BMRCL'.

"On Sunday, we will set a date to protest, blacken and cover the Hindi signages in all BMRCL metro stations. I will speak with the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in person as well. The Vedike will be at the forefront of this movement. We do not need imposition of Hindi as India is a mix of many languages,” said Narayana Gowda, President, KRV.

The organization aims to broad base its struggle beyond Karnataka. "Next month we will organise a public meeting at National College grounds, in the presence of cultural representatives of other states, to fight against Hindi imposition, be it Kannada, Marathi, Bengali or any other local tongue," Gowda said.

While addressing media persons actor politician Mukhyamantri Chandru said, “We will take this campaign to Delhi. How do they expect people coming from interior Karnataka villages to understand Hindi or English? The State and Centre have been informed of this imposition. There is no such law anywhere that dictates a language rule."

Chandru added that he had spoken to BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola to change the sign boards, but nothing has been done. "We will keep protesting until they change the sign boards. This is the fight by all states, who consider their local language important," he said.

Sandeep Deshpande from Maharashtra Mandal was also present at the conference to show support. The Vedike said it hopes to see all prominent political parties, intellectuals, think tanks from non-Hindi speaking states join hands under a common minimum programme, to achieve linguistic equality.