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The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (Narayana Gowda faction) on Wednesday targeted business establishments in Bengaluru and damaged their signboards and name plates which did not use Kannada.
The activists took out rallies in various parts of the city, especially in the business hubs such as MG Road, Brigade Road, Lavelle Road, UB City, Chamarajapet, Chickpet, Kempe Gowda Road, Gandhi Nagar, St Marks Road, Cunningham Road, Residency Road and Sadahalli Gate near Devanahalli.
The activists claimed that the business establishments were "undermining the official language of Karnataka, which is Kannada." Many malls, shops, commercial buildings, companies and factories, especially multinational companies, faced the ire of KRV activists, who damaged and defaced signboards and name plates which were not in Kannada.
Later, the agitating members including the KRV convener T A Narayana Gowda, were taken under preventive custody by police. Addressing reporters, Gowda said the name plates and signboards in Karnataka should be in Kannada.
Citing BBMP rules, he said, "60 per cent of the signboards and name plates should be in Kannada. We are not against your business but if you are doing business in Karnataka then you have to respect our language. If you ignore Kannada or put Kannada letters in small, we will not let you operate here." The KRV leader warned the government that it will face the music in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections if it did not take their love for Kannada seriously.
The traffic on the Ballari road leading to the Airport and many other places was chock-a-blocked with activists, leading to vehicles moving at a snail's pace. The police too found themselves helpless before the agitating crowd, which had gone berserk.
Meanwhile, state Home Minister G Parameshwara told media in Kalaburagi that the pro-Kannada activists have been warning against the non-usage of Kannada language in the signboards, advertisements and name plates. He said the government respects Kannada very much because all its activities take place in the state's official language.
