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<h1>Activists From Non-Hindi States Unite, Plan Seminar to Take Language Battle Forward</h1>
<h2 class="gmail-story-intro">A round-table seminar has been convened in
Bengaluru on Saturday (July 15), for which invites have gone out to
leaders from all non-Hindi States, said B Sanneerappa, spokesperson for
the pro-Kannada outfit Kannada Rakshana Vedike.</h2> <div class="gmail-clearfix"><div class="gmail-author gmail-fleft"><p><a href="http://www.news18.com/byline/deepa-balakrishnan.html">Deepa Balakrishnan</a> | <a href="http://www.news18.com/agency/cnn-news18.html">CNN-News18</a><a href="https://twitter.com/deepab18" target="_blank" class="gmail-fttxt"><img src="http://static.ibnlive.in.com/pix/ibnhome/news18/fticon.gif" alt="">deepab18</a></p><span><strong>Updated:</strong>July 10, 2017, 3:17 PM IST</span> </div><div class="gmail-fright gmail-shre-icon"> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.news18.com/news/india/activists-from-non-hindi-states-unite-plan-seminar-to-take-language-battle-forward-1456995.html&t=Activists%20From%20Non-Hindi%20States%20Unite,%20Plan%20Seminar%20to%20Take%20Language%20Battle%20Forward" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.ibnlive.in.com/pix/ibnhome/news18/sficon.gif" alt="facebook" title="facebook"></a><a href="http://twitter.com/share?text=Activists%20From%20Non-Hindi%20States%20Unite,%20Plan%20Seminar%20to%20Take%20Language%20Battle%20Forward&url=http://www.news18.com/news/india/activists-from-non-hindi-states-unite-plan-seminar-to-take-language-battle-forward-1456995.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.ibnlive.in.com/pix/ibnhome/news18/sticon.gif" alt="Twitter" title="Twitter"></a><a href="https://plus.google.com/share?url=http://www.news18.com/news/india/activists-from-non-hindi-states-unite-plan-seminar-to-take-language-battle-forward-1456995.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.ibnlive.in.com/pix/ibnhome/news18/sgicon.gif" alt="google" title="google"></a><a target="_blank" class="gmail-spy"><img src="http://static.ibnlive.in.com/pix/ibnhome/news18/ssicon.gif" alt="skype" title="skype"></a></div></div><div class="gmail-articleimg"> <div class="gmail-shareRight"> </div> <img alt="Activists From Non-Hindi States Unite, Plan Seminar to Take Language Battle Forward" title="Activists From Non-Hindi States Unite, Plan Seminar to Take Language Battle Forward"><h5>
Documents have emerged that show Central Government representatives
visited the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) in July
2016, and insisted on Hindi usage as part of the official languages
policy in Metro signages. Screengrab from CNN-News18</h5></div>
<strong>Bengaluru:</strong> Language campaigners fighting against
imposition of Hindi by the Centre are taking their campaign to the next
level by trying to unite like-minded people from all non-Hindi speaking
states.<br>
<br>
A round-table seminar has been convened in Bengaluru on Saturday (July
15), for which invites have gone out to leaders from all non-Hindi
States, said B Sanneerappa, spokesperson for the pro-Kannada outfit
Kannada Rakshana Vedike.<br>
<br>
“In all these states, there is forced imposition of Hindi in some form
or other that is going on. We want to save the languages of all these
States for the future, so we have reached out the chief ministers,
opposition leaders and leaders from interest-groups have been called,
especially the Dravidian languages and a few others like Punjabi and
Bengali,” Sanneerappa told News18.<br>
<br>
Kannada activists have been disappointed about the lack of interest
shown by BJP leaders like Venkaiah Naidu (who, two weeks back, said
Hindi is the country’s national language), and Ananth Kumar and
Sadananda Gowda who have not supported their campaigns on
#NammaMetroHindiBeda.<br>
<br>
Another vociferous campaigner, both online and offline, Arun Javagal
says that responses from these states have been good – political parties
like the DMK, TDP, TRS, Shiv Sena and political heads like Mamata
Banerjee and MK Stalin have all welcomed the initiative.<br>
<br>
“We want to send out a strong message to people who are
pro-Hindi-imposition with this event. And again, it is not against
Hindi, it’s against Hindi imposition. Almost all the parties have agreed
to send their representatives,” Javagal said.<br>
<br>
This comes as documents emerged over the last few days that show Central
Government representatives visited the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation
Limited (BMRCL) in July 2016, and insisted on Hindi usage as part of
the official languages policy in Metro signages.<br>
<br>
Karnataka Chief Secretary at the time had objected to this and written
to the Union Urban Development Ministry to exempt BMRCL from the
official languages policy as it is not a PSU under the Central
Government, and Karnataka’s share in the project is far higher than that
of the Centre’s. This letter, however, had been ignored by the
Ministry.<br>
It is in the backdrop of all these events that the anger against Hindi imposition in local transport has been growing.<br>
<br>
“We all give taxes to the Centre. Just because Centre funds some
project, they cannot discriminate against other States’ languages,” says
Sanneerappa, who says the movement could even grow into a political
force by 2020.<br>
<br>
“We want to keep Hindi-high-command parties out, build a parallel to the
NDA and the UPA. It is other parties that are saving our languages and
identities – be it Kannada, Telugu or Tamil. We need to create an
environment to usher in governments that don’t foist Hindi on us,” he
says.<br>
<br>
It may be early days yet for such ambitions, but the movement to unite non-Hindi States is building up.<br><a href="http://www.news18.com/news/india/activists-from-non-hindi-states-unite-plan-seminar-to-take-language-battle-forward-1456995.html">http://www.news18.com/news/india/activists-from-non-hindi-states-unite-plan-seminar-to-take-language-battle-forward-1456995.html</a><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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