Watch | What is the Kannada signboards controversy all about?

A video on the history of the linguistic debate in Karnataka, the recent incidents of vandalism by Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, and the ordinance announced by the government on rules regarding signboards

Besides its Silicon Valley tag, if there is one thing Bengaluru is defined by, it is its cosmopolitan nature. Lakhs of people from different parts of the country have made the City their home. 

While many things have united the people here, what has often been a dividing factor is the linguistic debate.  

This issue has flared up from time to time in Bengaluru. In the last week of December, the members of a Kannada outfit, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, vandalised non-Kannada boards in various parts of the city. Soon after, the BBMP announced that all name boards in the city should have at least 60% Kannada and the rest could be any language. The deadline for the same is February 28.  

We asked retailers and proprietors across the city what they feel about this rule.

The Hindu’s reporters, TR Jahnavi and KV Aditya Bharadwaj, discuss the history of the linguistic debate; the ongoing confusion and the ordinance which was announced by CM Siddaramaiah to the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Act 2022; the challenges retailers may face in following the rule and what lies ahead.  

Also read:  Signs of Bengaluru’s language conundrum

Also read:The long battle to make Kannada mandatory in signboards in Karnataka