Anti-Hindi showdown in Bengaluru: Protesters storm MHA promotional event attended by 6 MPs; over 40 held

NEW DELHI: As many as 41 members of a pro-Kannada organisation were arrested for allegedly barging into a five-star hotel in central Bengaluru and disrupting a Hindi Diwas-related meeting organised by the union ministry of home affairs, police said on Friday. According to officials, the ministry’s Rajbhasha Samiti (committee on official language) had convened a three-day meeting at the hotel on Race Course road from September 23 to 25. The event - a “Hindi Promotion Meeting” - was attended by six members of parliament and other government officials, reported news agency PTI citing sources.
The protest unfolded on the final day of the event, when around 10:45am, a group of 30 to 40 protestors entered the venue without permission. Police said the group raised slogans against the meeting agenda, accusing the organisers of trying to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.
“Between approximately 10.45am and 11am, about 30 to 40 members of an organisation illegally entered the venue in protest against the meeting agenda, obstructed the work of government officials present, and created a disturbance,” the police statement read, as quoted by the agency. Security personnel responded quickly, detaining the protestors and restoring order at the venue. The meeting resumed shortly after and concluded as scheduled, officials said. A case has been registered at the High Grounds police station. All 41 protestors were arrested and produced before the 1st ACJM Court, which sent them to judicial custody.