Bengaluru: While addressing the centre in a letter to Urban Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, his government has instructed the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to not use the Hindi language on signboards at stations.
Siddaramaiah said the decision was taken due to the protests against the use of Hindi signboards at metro stations. The agitation started with social media campaigns, but later took a “violent turn with activists trying to deface the Metro name boards/signages,” he wrote.
As per a report by Deccan Chronicle, the chief minister pointed out, the commuters understand Kannada or English, so it is not essential to use Hindi on signboards.
.@CMofKarnataka has written a letter to Union Minister @nstomar saying BMRCL would be asked to redesign Name Boards etc without Hindi Script pic.twitter.com/HSD5ujtQ8k
— Namma Karnataka (@NammaKarnataka_) July 28, 2017
“Although the state government has strictly dealt with those who defaced the signages and maintained law and order around metro stations, you would agree that in the face of a continue agitation…it is counter-productive to insist on use of three languages, including Hindi,” he wrote.
A protest was started by Pro-Kannada activists in June as a social media outrage, but it quickly turned into an offline protest with pro-Kannada organisations holding a demonstration in front of the BMRCL office on June 23.
A few pro-Kannada activists representing Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV recently sprayed black paint on Hindi signages Peenya, Jayanagar and Deepanjali nagar metro stations). The KRV had threatened to continue its protests till metro officials removed Hindi signages.