Why Bangalore is giving non-Kannada speaking people a hard time
Are Kannadigas, who seem to be becoming a growing minority in the IT capital of the nation, gradually losing their tempers? The recent incident involving the beating of students of African origin in Bangalore seems to suggest intolerance, but one needs to look more closely at the reasons for the rising number of violent incidents in the IT city.
Coming back to the African students, conflicting versions surround the incident. While the African community claim it was a “racial attack”, the Bangalore police claim the African students, who were in an inebriated condition, had gone overboard in their behaviour. Police sources stressed the attack was not racially motivated. However, with Bangalore being under media scrutiny 24x7, any incident involving non-Kannada speakers is quickly being labelled as a “racial attack".
No one will dispute the fact that Bangalore continues to remain the first choice of international students and working professionals with various ethnic backgrounds. Non-Kannada speaking people are welcomed with open arms, be it in employment or education. Today, in Bangalore, there are associations of Bengalis, Maharashtrians, Assamese, Punjabis, Sindhis, Marwaris, Gujaratis, and since historic times, the Tamilians, Malayalees and Teluguites, something not seen in most other cities! A record number of students from West Asia, Africa and Southeast Asia are pursuing their education in the city. So then why, one must ask, is Bangalore suddenly witnessing an unexpected intolerance towards non-Kannada speaking people?
The answer to this has to be seen through a historical perspective. Though the founding father of the city, Magadi Kempe Gowda, a ruler, who owed allegiance to the Vijayanagara Empire, was a Kannadiga; over a period of time, with British aid, Bangalore was transformed into a cantonment. Tamilians, Teluguites, Marathas and Malayalees became integral to the city with the British setting up different military regiments in the city.
Post-independence, the integration of non-Kannada speakers into the city’s culture became stronger with several PSUs and defense establishments setting up base in Bangalore. The non-Kannada speakers further consolidated in Bangalore with the IT sector absorbing talented professionals from across the country irrespective of their linguistic background. Today, there are thousands of people, who have been born and brought up in Bangalore but still cannot speak the local language unlike other cities.
English and Hindi, and also to an extent, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu, by default, are omnipresent in Bangalore. While Kannadigas dominate west and south Bangalore, the non-Kannada speakers are spread all over the city. This is also evident from the performance of Kannada movies, which have to compete for screens with Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam movies. Bangalore’s auto rickshaw and taxi drivers are fluent in many of these languages. But that’s where the problem begins. Everybody expects everyone to understand Hindi or English in the city. Incidents, where auto-rickshaw drivers have argued with non-Kannadigas over the fare, are being decpited as “racist” with passengers accusing them of being “biased” because of their linguistic background!
Several senior police officers, some of whom are from north India, agree. They say it has become a habit for non-Kannadigas to blame the “intolerance” of the local population whenever they are on the wrong side of the law. As an senior officer said, “incidents that can be resolved peacefully often get escalated with non-Kannada speakers confronting the Kannadigas.” He added: “You can enjoy a harmonious relationship in the neighbourhood, as long as you respect the local culture, tradition and language.”