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Tensions broke out on Thursday, September 25, when over 40 activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) entered the Taj West End hotel on Race Course Road in Bengaluru, disrupting a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language. The activists alleged that the three-day programme was an attempt to impose Hindi on Karnataka under the Union government’s language policy.
The meeting, which had been underway since September 23 and was scheduled to conclude on September 25, was being attended by several Members of Parliament from north India. On Thursday morning, minutes after the final day’s session began around 9.30 am, the protest broke out. By 10.45 am, a group of 30–40 activists wearing yellow and red scarves barged into the venue, shouting anti-Hindi slogans, tearing banners, and smashing furniture.
Visuals of the protest showed activists raising slogans inside the five-star hotel, tearing posters and smashing the hotel’s furniture. The sudden intrusion forced organisers and attendees to vacate the hall until police rushed in.
“The Parliamentary Committee on Official Language had organised a meeting at the Taj West End from September 23 to 25. On September 25, between 10.45 am and 11 am, members of an organisation illegally entered the venue, obstructed government officials and created a disturbance. This caused a temporary disruption to the meeting. Police immediately arrived, took the protestors into custody, and controlled the situation,” the Bengaluru police said in a statement.
The High Grounds police have registered a case against the protesters. In all, 41 activists were arrested and later produced before the 1st ACJM Court, which remanded them to judicial custody.
KRV leaders defended the protest, insisting that the Parliamentary Committee meeting represented a continued push for Hindi imposition in Union government offices in Karnataka. “Instead of respecting the sentiments of Kannadigas, the administration has chosen to suppress voices by arresting activists and preparing to file false and baseless cases against them,” KRV state organisation secretary Arun Javagal said in a statement.
Although the meeting faced a brief interruption, it resumed later in the day and concluded as per schedule.