"Not England": Union Minister Backs Bengaluru's "60% Kannada" Rule

Speaking to NDTV hours after pro-Kannada groups went on a rampage in state capital Bengaluru, Pralhad Joshi, MP from Dharwad, questioned why shopkeepers insist on writing signages only in English.

Union minister Pralhad Joshi said today that while he does not hold with violence, he did agree with the demand that shop signages in Karnataka should be predominantly in the local language. Speaking to NDTV hours after pro-Kannada groups went on a rampage in state capital Bengaluru, the MP from Dharwad questioned why shopkeepers insist on writing signages only in English.

"Everybody should be able to read the signs and not everyone can read English. What is the harm in writing in Kannada as well as in English or another language, like Hindi? This is not England," he told NDTV when asked if the sub-nationalism invoked by the Congress has worried the BJP.

"If there has been violence that cannot be approved but these people (shopkeepers) should also understand the sentiment and the necessity," he added.