Online petition to ‘include Kannada songs in Karnataka pubs, clubs’ goes viral

In an online petition, a Karnataka resident has made a demand for the inclusion of Kannada songs in Karnataka's pubs and clubs. The petition has garnered widespread support.

A petitioner, Alok Babu garnered the support of more than 81,000 people so far on his online petition to play Kannada songs in pubs and clubs. In his petition, he says that Kannada, being the regional language, is not given prominence in many pubs and clubs in the state and the problem is more in Bengaluru. He claims that predominantly English or Hindi songs are played along with some Tamil/Telugu numbers once in a while. "In the petition, we request pubs and clubs to play at least 3-4 popular Kannada songs every day as a gesture of respect to the region that the establishment has been set up in and also to help promote and encourage the regional talent and music scene. We Kannadiga's talk about this issue every day but we never take an initiative to change it! The time has come now, To raise voice for our mother tongue and to get the respectful righteous place it deserves!’" said the petitioner. He, however, added that they are not demanding only Kannada songs be played but are requesting that Kannada songs also be included. ‘We love and respect all languages similarly asking to love n respect our's too i.e. Kannada!’ he says in the petition.