'Bengaluru closed for North India' post sparks debate online

Bengaluru: A social media post stating that "Bengaluru is closed for North India" has gone viral, generating debate about the Kannada language row online.

In a post on 'X', a social media user stated: "Bengaluru is closed for North India and neighbouring states who don’t want to learn Kannada. They don’t need Bengaluru if they can’t respect the language and culture."

The recent post by Babruvahana (@Paarmatma) has garnered significant attention, with over 115,000 views, 198 reposts, and 1,839 likes. (at the time this was written) Reacting to the post, a social media user who claimed to be a "migrant to Bengaluru" said the post might sound a bit harsh.

"But whenever I see people in Bengaluru completely disregard Kannada as some sort of tribal language and even look down on those who speak Kannada as illiterates, even in corporate offices, I feel very pained. Kannada is a phenomenally rich language that has received the most literary awards, including Sahitya Akademi and Jnanpith awards (sic)," he said.

He suggested it was time for Kannadigas to create a movement for Kannada pride in a positive way rather than resorting to a negative backlash.

"There is nothing chauvinistic about being proud of one’s language and culture," he said.

Another social media user expressed a different perspective, stating that Bengaluru exists today because of hardworking people from other states who contributed to its development.

"Today, Bengaluru is here because of hardworking people from other states who put in all the effort to develop this city. Don’t forget that! Now that everything is built, do you want others to leave? Shame on Kannada people and the government of Karnataka for sitting idly by (sic)," he said.

Another user, while agreeing to learn Kannada, demanded that the state government hire good teachers to teach Kannada in offices.

"Okay, I'll learn... But ask your government to use Kannada code language to develop applications, and more importantly, ask them to hire good Kannada teachers to teach in offices. Also, ask your government to send all other state people back to their states (sic)," the user stated.