Hindi signboards were removed from at least three metro stations in Bengaluru, by BMRCL, on Friday. The move comes a week after Chief Minister Siddaramiah wrote to the Union Urban Development Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, about the state’s decision of removing the signboards.
Although no official information has come from BMRCL, sources said that at Majestic, Chickpet and Jayanagar metro stations, Hindi signboards have been removed.
The letter written by Siddaramiah on 28 July had said that “Although both Government of India and the Government of Karnataka have an equal (50:50) equity stake in the BMRCL, the state government’s financial contribution is much more than the Indian government’s.”
Siddaramaiah went on to write that the agitation for Hindi’s removal began on social media, and academicians and intellectuals of the city have also supported the removal of Hindi from the signboards as it isn’t the state’s language, becoming counterproductive for commuters who aren’t familiar with the language.
The anti-Hindi protests, which began earlier in July, saw pro-Kannada activists blackening Hindi signboards. Last week, the then city police commissioner, Praveen Sood, who ordered the arrests of the activists, was transferred out.
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