The rising menace of linguistic and regional chauvinism in Karnataka, especially in Bengaluru, has reached a point of absurdity that defies reason and decency. Days after a Bengaluru Police official allegedly disconnected the call by a Spanish man stuck in a burglary situation at his home, over not speaking Kannada, the self-proclaimed ‘language warriors’ recently threatened a restaurateur to remove the signboard of his Odia restaurant “Delicious Pakhal” near Bileshivale village in Bengaluru. This came despite the fact that the Odia restaurant already has a prominently displayed Kannada signboard.
In the viral video, a Kannada language goon arrived in a car and started questioning a staff member from of the Odia restaurant in Kannada over why they had put up nameboards in Odia language.
To this, the restaurant staffer, though seemingly taken aback, humbly responded, “This eatery follows Odisha style(food). The board is for Odia people, as 90% of the food served here caters to them. That’s why we have put up the nameplate.” It is notable here that the staffer was responding to the language chauvinist in Kannada, not in Odia or English or Hindi.
Kannadigas are upset over Odia restaurants serving Odia food in Karnataka. No Hindi involved, just Kannada and Odia, yet they're bothered. How is this business friendly? @INCKarnataka @DKShivakumar @siddaramaiah pic.twitter.com/4AMSGfdwqC
— Lord Immy Kant (Eastern Exile) (@KantInEast) February 27, 2025
Despite this, the man issues a warning to the Odia restaurant owner asking him to remove the Odia language board and that he would come back in a week to check. The Kannada language goon asserted that in Karnataka, the Kannada language and Kannada people should get first priority.
“In Karnataka, our first priority should be Kannada people. Have you seen other states allowing boards in our language? That language is not allowed here. Remove it. I will come back in a week,” he told the restaurant owner in an authoritative tone.
The Odia restaurant’s owner had respected the local rules and displayed the restaurant’s name in the Kannada language prominently alongside a signboard in Odia, however, that was not enough for the self-appointed protector of the Kannada language. He targeted the Odia script, a clear nod to the owner’s heritage and clientele as if the mere presence of a nameboard in Odia language would threaten the existence of the Kannada language’s identity. This is not Kannada pride but intimidation and hooliganism dressed up as a principle.
The incident has sparked outrage among not only Odia people but from people across the country including many Kannadigas. Taking to social media, several people questioned who gave the Kannadiga man seen in the video the authority to decide language priorities for others. Many also raised concerns over how such linguistic chauvinism and hooliganism are tarnishing the image of Bengaluru and Karnataka.
“As a proud Kannadiga, I just want to ask—who gave him the authority to decide which language is needed or not?” a Kannada-speaking social media user said.
As a proud Kannadiga, I just want to ask—who gave him the authority to decide which language is needed or not?
— Manchu (@manchulive) February 27, 2025
Another one said, “Hooligans are spoiling Karnataka’s image. Police and Govt have become mute spectators.”
“This is ridiculous. They come in some car, dictate terms? Not government… So gundas. The requirement is Kannada has to be there, which is first on the board. If they put an Odisja board for those who come here from Odisha but don’t know Hindi or Kannada, what’s the issue??” another X user wrote.
One X user wrote, “The restaurant has a Kannada signboard, and the chef speaks Kannada with all humility. The Odia signboard is just for marketing because they serve Odia cuisine. Still, why the issue? This kind of rowdy behaviour needs to stop.”
The restaurant has a Kannada signboard, and the chef speaks Kannada with all humility.
— Sann (@san_x_m) February 27, 2025
The Odia signboard is just for marketing because they serve Odia cuisine. Still, why the issue? This kind of rowdy behavior needs to stop. #Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/Dbi2MrGy4d
Restaurant removes Odia signboard
As expected, the Odia restaurant was forced to remove the name board in the Odia language and now only the Kannada and English name boards of the restaurant are displayed. The Odia restaurateur had to capitulate to Kannada chauvinism. Despite already having placed signboards in Kannada and English, the Odia restaurant was coerced into erasing a piece of its identity because somehow the language goons masquerading as ‘activists’ could not stomach coexistence.
Passed by the restaurant last evening and found the Odia lettering removed. I'm not an Odia, but the sight made me sad to the core..#Mohabbatkidukaan lol
— one filter coffee pls (@FilterCoffee09) March 2, 2025
P.S. Their aloo bonda with ghughuni is yum by the way ❤️ https://t.co/U04KyPukNG pic.twitter.com/B3fIoqg0z8
This, however, is not a victory of Kannada pride rather it is an opprobrious display of intolerance winning out over reason demonstrating that respecting someone else’s language without disregarding their own language is not enough when language fanatics call the shots. This is yet another blow to the cosmopolitan spirit of Bengaluru, which is, unfortunately, becoming narrower and meaner due to the growing hooliganism of language goons emboldened by spineless politics and the inaction of authorities.
This linguistic fanaticism is being fuelled by politics. The language row in Karnataka has been simmering for years, with signboard disputes, hooliganism over Hindi signages in the Bengaluru metro in 2017 even though it was perfectly legal to use Hindi signages alongside Kannada and English, and private businesses caught in the crossfire. The fringe groups like Karnataka Rakshana Vedike and political parties like Congress have seized on ‘Kannada pride’ theatrics as a cheap vote-grabbing gimmick, magnifying it into a divisive us-versus-them narrative. This “us versus them” narrative based on language is also being widely pushed by the DMK government in Tamil Nadu under the pretext of opposing ‘Hindi imposition’.
The Congress government’s own mandate 60:40 Kannada-English (or any other language) set a tone, but when its enforcement was left to street-level goons, the prevalence of threats, anarchy and even violence came across as unsurprising. In 2023, shops were vandalised, and English and Hindi signboards were damaged by those brandishing the red-yellow Kannada flag, for supposedly not prioritising Kannada enough. Even compliance does not shield one from harassment as seen in the case of the Odia restaurant in Bengaluru forced to remove the Odia signboard. It has become a spiral of escalation wherein legitimate cultural and linguistic advocacy has been hijacked by goondaism.
Back in December 2023, the pro-Kannada groups held demonstrations at the famous Chikpet market in Bengaluru, heckling and targeting Marwari shop owners because their establishments carried signage with English in bold letters and Kannada in small font. Following this, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) issued a directive mandating that business establishments must use 60% Kannada on their signboards while giving them a deadline of 15 days, failing which their license would be cancelled.
Just months prior to this, Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress stalwart Siddaramaiah had ‘warned’ that everyone residing in the state must learn the Kannada language, claiming that everyone living in Karnataka is a “Kannadiga”.
In May 2023, just before the state assembly elections, Congress and other opposition leaders spread mass hysteria that ‘outside’ companies (non-Karnataka-based) will trample the local businesses, which could lead to ‘cultural, political, lingual, and economic subjugation’. OpIndia earlier reported how Congress used the Amul-Nandini controversy to whip up regionalism and linguistic chauvinism by framing non-Kanadigas as outsiders, potential usurpers and cultural imperialists.
Not to forget, Congress leader Siddaramaiah had even appealed to the Kannadigas to boycott the Amul brand as it was not “based in the state.” The Congress party did not even spare labels on FMCG products, particularly Dahi/curd. In July 2024, the Congress government attempted to pander to the ‘Kannadiga first’ enthusiasts and proposed 100% reservation for Kannadigas in Category C and D jobs in all private industries in the state only to backtrack after outrage. Even recently, Karnataka Congress MLA Ravikumar Gowda Ganiga has stated that actress Rashmika Mandanna has disregarded Kannada and maybe she should be ‘taught a lesson’.
The political support by parties like Congress that thrive on appeasement politics and populist policies has intensified polarising sentiments and emboldened the so-called defenders of Kannada pride. In September 2024, a Bengaluru auto driver named Muthuraj who was arrested on the evening of 5th September for abusing and slapping a woman passenger for making him wait and then cancel the ride due to a change in plans was seen gaining sympathy from a section of people. Unsurprisingly, the language chauvinist auto driver received immense support and appreciation from fellow linguistic fanatics who somehow have no problem with Urdu but only with Hindi, English, Odia and other languages.
Taking pride in one’s language is not wrong, and people coming to a state or country learning the language of the land is a good gesture, however, imposing one’s language on another, forcing businesses not to put up signboards in their native languages alongside state language is not only unjustified and illegal but also counterproductive. Bengaluru once a beacon of cosmopolitanism, thrives because of its diversity not in spite of it. Harassing an Odia restaurateur or anyone else over a multilingual signboard does not protect Kannada or elevate Kannada pride, rather, it circulates a negative, hostile image of the city.
The Odias living in Bengaluru earn their livelihoods in Karnataka, pay taxes there, send their children to schools where the Kannada language is taught and contribute to Karnataka’s economy to the best of their abilities. Such open hostility, despite the adherence to local rules, portrays nothing but hate.
For genuine promotion of Kannada, funding Kannada medium schools, celebrating Kannada literature, culture, and even incentivising learning would be more effective and positive ways than this strong-arm tactics that only breeds resentment and widens the linguistic and cultural divides. While political parties may thrive on backing such division and hooliganism, in the end, it is the common people, both Kannadiga and non-Kannadigas who pay the price. This disgraceful power play masquerading as linguistic chauvinism needs to stop.
