Pro-Kannada outfit protests against Hindi Diwas event; 41 arrested
Ministry of Home Affairs' Rajbhasha Samiti' had organised a "Hindi Promotion Meeting" in which six MPs participated
Bengaluru, Sep 26 (PTI) Forty-one members of a pro-Kannada outfit were arrested for allegedly forcing their way into a five-star hotel here in protest against a Hindi Diwas event and causing a disturbance, police said on Friday.
Following this, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) has called for a protest in all the 31 districts of the state from Saturday, demanding that "false cases" against their activists be withdrawn and they should be released.
The Ministry of Home Affairs' Rajbhasha Samiti had organised a "Hindi Promotion Meeting" at the hotel, attended by six Members of Parliament, when members of the pro-Kannada outfit barged in on Thursday, according to sources.
Raising slogans against the event, the activists alleged that the meeting was an attempt to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.
According to a police statement, the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language had organised a meeting from September 23 to 25 at the hotel on Race Course road here.
On the final day of the meeting, the session commenced at 9.30 am.
"Between approximately 10.45 am and 11 am, about 30 to 40 members of an organisation illegally entered the venue in protest against the meeting agenda, obstructed the work of government officials present, and created a disturbance. This caused a temporary disruption to the meeting," it stated.
The police immediately arrived at the scene, took the protestors into custody, and brought the situation under control. Consequently, the meeting at the hotel experienced a brief interruption but was completed as planned due to the police's timely intervention.
"A case was registered against the protestors at High Grounds Police Station, and legal action was taken. A total of 41 protestors were arrested and produced before the 1st ACJM Court, which sent them to judicial custody," it added.
Speaking to reporters here, KRV state president T A Narayana Gowda said he has called for a protest in all the 31 districts of the state, from Saturday, against "false cases" on KRV activists by the police and the state government.
The central government should withdraw from Hindi imposition, he urged, asserting that the KRV won't allow Hindi imposition in Karnataka. "Kannada is supreme in Karnataka," he added.
Rajbhasha Samiti, that is under the central government, is allegedly imposing Hindi on other state languages, and spreading Hindi. At the meeting in the hotel, the members of Rajbhasha Samiti, including some MPs were encouraging officials of central government in Karnataka about the use of Hindi during their departmental work, Gowda claimed.
He also claimed that the central government officials working in Karnataka were assured by the Samiti of getting bonuses and medals for using Hindi and writing Hindi exams.
"On getting to know about Hindi imposition from Kannada-speaking officials, working in the central government, our karyakartas went to the venue where the meeting was being held, and shouted slogans against Hindi imposition and tore the Hindi banner. By then police arrived and arrested KRV activists," he said.
Alleging that a conspiracy was hatched subsequently to fix KRV activists by falsely accusing them of stopping government officials from performing their duties and destroying properties, among others, Gowda said false cases were registered with the intention of sending them to jail.
Among 41 activities, 13 are women, some of them have small children, he said, as he hit out at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and ministers in his government for registering cases against Kannada activists. PTI