Why not boards in Tamil, Telugu: Karnataka Rakshana Vedike

T. A. Narayana Gowda, the man who heads the Kannada outfit Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) that has over 60 lakh activists, says that the KRV will fight till Hindi boards are removed from Namma Metro stations. “Tamil and Telugu population is larger than Hindi population in Bengaluru. So, should we have Tamil, Telugu boards as well,” he asks in a conversation with M.G. Chetan.

Why is KRV linking Kannada with Namma Metro? Is that a matter of pride?
Namma Metro is a project of the state government. The Union government’s funding to the project is very less. The Centre grants funds to all state governments for various projects. It does not mean that Hindi signboards should be put up in all such projects. Our point is very clear. If we allow Hindi at Metro stations today, it will be implemented in BMTC and KSRTC buses too in the future. When Hindi is not our national language, we should try to understand the purpose behind imposing Hindi. India has 22 official languages and Hindi is just one among them. Even the central government has made it clear during the Parliament session on Friday that Hindi is not the national language. When this is the case, why Hindi boards in state-funded projects?

Hindi speaking migrants are in large numbers in Bengaluru when compared to other cities in the country. Don’t you think having Hindi signboards will help them?

Our national capital is Delhi. Is there any language other than Hindi and English used there for official purpose? Even in Delhi, there are a large number of migrants from other states, including Karnataka. So, are they helping migrants by making announcements in Kannada, Tamil or Telugu? Similarly, when it comes to Bengaluru, the Hindi-speaking population is just one per cent. Considering most of them are from other states, they can understand basic English and there are English signboards. There is a large of number of Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam-speaking population in the city and they are more than the number of Hindi speakers. So, should we have signboards or announcements in all these languages?

 KRV activists have disfigured a signboard at Namma Metro station by painting it black. Will you justify such acts? 
The protest against imposition of Hindi is a movement. When there are such movements, protests are part of it. We have just painted one Hindi signboard black and it’s a mark of protest. It does not mean that we are damaging public property. We have not resorted to vandalism or violence.

What will be the next course of action? 
We have started the protest and will end it only after our objective is achieved. In this case, they have to remove all Hindi signboards at Metro stations and then we will stop the protest. KRV activists are not scared of police cases. The state government is saying that it’s not against Kannada. Then, let it stop the imposition of Hindi by asking Metro authorities to not use Hindi. Else, lakhs of KRV activists from across the state will descend on the city. Then the government and the BMRCL will be responsible for whatever happens.