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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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