Language row sparks tension in Karnataka border after group attacks conductor for asking them to speak in Kannada

Tension prevailed in the border district of Belagavi on Saturday following the assault on an RTC bus conductor by a group of people for not replying to them in Marathi.

Kannada organisations staged a protest and blocked the Belagavi-Bagalkot road, demanding that the police take action against those who attacked the bus conductor.

The assault had taken place on Friday in Belagavi district. The police forcibly removed Kannada activists, including women, who were protesting, and took them to an undisclosed location. Reacting to the incident, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy stated in Bengaluru on Saturday that those living in Karnataka should learn Kannada. He added that while people can speak their mother tongue, Marathi, they must also speak Kannada in Karnataka.

“All parties should condemn such incidents,” he said. The assault took place near the Balekundri region on an RTC bus traveling from CBT to Sulebhavi.

The conductor, Mahadevappa Hukkeri, had questioned a boy traveling with a free ticket meant for women. During the argument, the boy responded in Marathi, and the conductor asked him to speak in Kannada.

Following this, the girl accompanying the boy and a group of other boys assaulted the conductor, insisting that he should learn Marathi.

4 arrested

Four people have been arrested for allegedly assaulting the conductor. The incident occurred on Friday on the outskirts of the district headquarters town of Belagavi bordering Maharashtra, they said. The conductor has also been booked under the POCSO Act, police said.

With tears in his eyes, the 51-year-old conductor Mahadevappa Mallappa Hukkeri on Friday told reporters that a girl who boarded the bus with her male friend at Sulebhavi village spoke in Marathi.

Hukkeri said he told her that he did not know Marathi and asked her to speak in Kannada.

“When I said I don’t know Marathi, the girl abused me saying that I must learn Marathi. Suddenly a large number of people gathered and assaulted me on my head and all over the body,” the conductor said.

The injured bus conductor was admitted to the Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences, police said adding he got minor injuries and is out of danger.

“A case was registered and we have arrested four people in connection with the assault on the conductor and based on a counter complaint lodged by the girl, who is 14-year-old, a case was registered against the conductor under Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for allegedly using derogatory remarks against her,” a senior police officer said.

“No arrest has been made yet in connection with the POCSO Act case. We need to investigate, and look into the allegations and accordingly further action will be taken,” he said.

Maharashtra suspends state bus services to Karnataka

Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Saturday ordered the suspension of the state transport buses to Karnataka after an MSRTC bus was attacked.
Sarnaik said the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus, which was plying from Bengaluru to Mumbai, was attacked in Chitradurga in Karnataka on Friday night by pro-Kannada activists.
They also blackened the face of driver Bhaskar Jadhav and assaulted him, the minister said.

Sarnaik said the bus services won’t be resumed unless the Karnataka government makes its stand clear on the issue.