Bengaluru: Pro-Kannada Protestors Turn Violent; Many English Signboards Pulled Down

A day after the Bengaluru city’s civic body issued a directive to traders asking them to make 60% of the signboards in Kannada language, pro-Kannada protests turned violent in Bengaluru on Wednesday, with the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists demanding the implementation of the 60 percentage Kannada in all signboards. Several boards written in English were marred by the protesters during their procession in different parts of the city.

In several areas of the city, protesters removed signboards with English domination. With the row over the signboards escalated, many shops including the PhoenixMarket City, and Mall of Asia, two of the reputed malls in Bengaluru were shut on Wednesday. Many other establishments and outlets were also coming under attack by the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike protesters.

Outlets on MG Road, Lavelle Road, Airport Road and Hebbal were targeted by the protesters by dismantling the English signboards. The protesters also warned the shop owners asking them to install Kannada boards immediately. According to reports, the protesters pulled down even boards that had English and Kannada signages, while the Kannada words were smaller in size. However, the police have detained many vandalizers.

The protesters also inflicted damages to the Hotel Bloom and the protestors also inflicted several other buildings, commercial establishments, factories and multinational corporations. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), a body responsible for civic amenities and some infrastructural assets of the Greater Bengaluru”s metropolitan area, had issued a warning to make 60 percent of the signage in Kannada, setting their deadline for the implementation as February 28.

However, the protesters are not waiting for the deadline as they argue that enough warnings have already been issued.