Bengaluru paradox: Language as a marker of identity in a city that embraced migrants

Bengaluru, affectionately known as ‘ ooru ’, has long been welcoming migrants from all over India. In 2017, Bengaluru’s Namma Metro found itself at the centre of a language controversy when signages in Hindi were installed at metro stations along with Kannada and English versions. The Chennai Metro Rail Limited’s proposal to connect Karnataka’s Bommasandra with Tamil Nadu’s Hosur received widespread opposition from the Kannada groups last week, who argued that the move would lead to a fresh influx of migrants into Bengaluru, intensifying the city's existing infrastructural challenges. PREMIUM The animosity in Bengaluru is predominantly directed at the imposition of Hindi, rather than toward migrants speaking Telugu, Tamil, or northeastern languages The Chennai Metro Rail Limited’s proposal to connect Karnataka’s Bommasandra with Tamil Nadu’s Hosur received widespread opposition from the Kannada groups last week, who argued that the move would lead to a fresh influx of migrants into Bengaluru, intensifying the city's existing infrastructural challenges. PREMIUM The animosity in Bengaluru is predominantly directed at the imposition of Hindi, rather than toward migrants speaking Telugu, Tamil, or northeastern languages {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} While these are unrelated incidents, Bengalureans, according to widespread perception and anecdotal evidence, feel successive state governments have neglected Kannada.