“Extraterrestrial language”: Bengaluru ATM does not offer Kannada; The social media storm intensifies the linguistic debate
A row of quivering languages in Karnataka has taken a sharper turn. This started as indignation at a director of the Bengaluru bank refusing to speak Kannada made snowball in wider concerns concerning the touch of the official language of the state.
The manager’s comment – “It’s India, I will talk about Hindi, not Kannada” – triggered demonstrations led by pro -Kannada groups and gained a severe response from the Siddaramaiah. The State Bank of India reacted quickly, transferring the manager and issuing excuses. But the linguistic war is not cooled.
Food fire, a new flash point appeared – this time on ATM language options. A customer went to social networks to call Union Bank of India for not having offered Kannada as a language choice in an automatic window outside of his Nagarbhavi branch near the NLS campus.
“Hello, @unionbanktweets on Ur ATM outside the Nagarbhavi branch near the NLS campus, had literally lost so much time looking for my Kannada language., After reading your language ‘The user published on X (formerly Twitter).
The backlash was immediate. Critics have questioned the tone and intention of the post.
“You could have said English and Hindi, but you should use a derogatory word,” Alien “, before him. Is your fight for the language of Kannada or is it to insult other languages? A user responded.
Another laughed: “If you publish this \[in] English, you can also use ATM in English! Following what? Why is Microsoft Windows in Kannada? Morons… Shame on the history of Karnataka !! »»
One more added: “Only people like Hindi you like an extraterrestrial language while typing all these nonsense in a language imposed by your colonial leaders. Typical brown sepoy. Incapable for countries like India. “
These tensions are not isolated. In September 2024, Professor Purushottama Bilimale, president of the Kannada Development Authority, warned against the growing influence of the Hindi and called for collective resistance. Above the same time, the 87th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in Mandya amplified voices opposed to the centralization of the Hindi.
The wave of protests and decline reflects a broader cultural struggle – between the preservation of local linguistic identities and the adaptation of a national linguistic framework. Language, as recent events in Karnataka show, is not only a means of communication but an identity marker. And for many, Kannada’s perceived erasure of public platforms is a battle too personal to ignore.
