Karnataka Border Area Development Authority Chairman Somanna Bevinamarad (Middle) addresses review meeting.
Mangaluru: Karnataka Border Area Development Authority chairman Somanna Bevinamarad has termed the Kerala government’s Malayalam Language Bill 2025 as unconstitutional and against the interests of Kannada linguistic minorities in Kerala, particularly those residing in Kasaragod district.
Speaking to media persons here on Friday, Bevinamarad urged Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to withdraw the Bill. He said the Kerala government should reconsider its approach to the proposed legislation, which seeks to make Malayalam the first language in all schools in the state.
“We want the Kerala government to protect the rights of Kannadigas. The Malayalam Language Bill should exclude Kasaragod from making Malayalam the compulsory first language in schools,” he said.
A delegation comprising representatives of the Kannada Medium School Teachers’ Association, Kerala; a Kasaragod Zilla Panchayat member; Karnataka Samithi, Kasaragod under the aegis of the Karnataka Border Area Development Authority, met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Mangaluru. The delegation apprised him of the provisions of the Bill and its adverse impact on Kannada-speaking people in Kasaragod, and urged him to pressurise Kerala CM. It also urged the CM to lead a delegation to the President.
Bevinamarad said that although Kasaragod geographically belongs to Kerala, the Kannadigas of the district are emotionally and culturally part of Karnataka. “Whenever Kannadigas have faced issues in border areas, the Authority has raised its voice and stood by them. We are confident that Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar will not give assent to this unconstitutional Bill. If our appeals are ignored by the Kerala government, we will pursue a legal battle,” he said.
He pointed out that the Kerala government had earlier introduced a Malayalam Language Bill in 2016–17, but it could not be implemented as the President did not grant assent.
Advocate and Karnataka Samithi president Muralidhar Ballakuraya said that in Kasaragod and other Kannada-speaking regions of Kerala, linguistic minority students currently study Kannada as their first language and another language as the second language. “If the Bill is implemented, Kannada students may be forced to learn Malayalam as their first language, even if they are not proficient in it. This could adversely affect their academic future,” he said.