Karnataka Rakshana Vedike
Encyclopedia
Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) , translated as Karnataka Protection Forum, is a pro-Kannada, non-partisan organization located in the state of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It has more than 5 million members enrolled from around the world spanning to about 12,000 branches across Karnataka in all 30 districts.

Belgaum border dispute

On Nov 11 2005, KRV activists resorted to daubing Belgaum
Belgaum
Belgaum is a city and a municipal corporation in Belgaum district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the fourth largest city of the state of Karnataka, the first three being Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli-Dharwad....

 Mayor Vijay More (and later surrendered to the police) in the wake of Belgaum City Corporation (BCC) passing a resolution to include the district of Belgaum into Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

, a neighbouring state. The KRV has alleged that this resolution was illegal. Public personalities, including the then Governor of Karnataka, T N Chaturvedi came out openly against BCC for interfering in a matter that is sub-judice and for overstepping its authority. Noted writer Poornachandra Tejaswi
Poornachandra Tejaswi
Kuppali Puttappa Poornachandra Tejaswi was a prominent Kannada writer and novelist who has made a great impession in "Navya" period of Kannada literature and inaugurated the bandaya or "protest literature" with his short-story collection Abachoorina Post Offisu.At early stages of his writing...

 expressed his support for this act by rhetorically asking if Mr. More "deserved Fair and Lovely instead of the black paint used." Upon his return to Belgaum, Vijay More was served with several show-cause notices by the Government of Karnataka and later dissolved the council.

Following this incident, in the next year's election, Mrs. Prashanta Budavi, wife of KRV City President Mr. Shantinath Budavi was elected as mayor of the Belgaum City Corporation. The Vedike claims that it is not against the Marathi people
Marathi people
The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...

, and that its opposition is limited to the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, which it alleges, is run by a "few individuals with vested political and commercial interests."

Kaveri dispute

Within 20 minutes of the release of the Kaveri Tribunal Award, KRV called for a total bandh
Bandh
Bandh , originally a Hindi word meaning 'closed', is a form of protest used by political activists in some countries like India and Nepal. During a Bandh, a political party or a community declares a general strike....

 (civil strike) in Karnataka. According to the Vedike's claims, the aim of the bandh was "to make the Centre and the common man realize that the award was not fair to Karnataka." The bandh - originally scheduled for 8 Feb 2007, ultimately happened on 12 February 2007. It was said to be successful in all the districts of Karnataka.

On 4 May 2007, about 20,000 activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (coming from all the 29 districts of Karnataka) and other organizations like the Karnataka Raita Sangha protested in New Delhi against the gazetting of the Kaveri Water Disputes Tribunal Award of 2007. The Vedike presented a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...

, alleging that historical bias by the colonial British administration against the Kingdom of Mysore was responsible for Karnataka being sidelined in favour of other states like Tamil Nadu.

Hogenakkal project

In 2008, KRV activists protested against the proposed Hogenakal water supply project
Hogenakkal Integrated Drinking Water Project
Hogenakkal Integrated Drinking Water Project is a fluorosis mitigation drinking water project being undertaken at Hogenakkal, Dharmapuri district, state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is scheduled to be executed by Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board , with funding from Japan Bank for...

. by attacking cinema halls screening Tamil movies in Bangalore, and pulling down Tamil movie hoardings and banners. They shouted slogans against Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

 and M. Karunanidhi
M. Karunanidhi
Muthuvel Karunanidhi is an Indian politician and a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He is the head of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a Dravidian political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. He has been the leader of the DMK since the death of its founder, C. N...

 (the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu).

The KRV also threatened to burn Tamil Nadu buses in the State, to use force to stall screening of Tamil movies in Bangalore city and forced television cable operators to stop airing Tamil channels as a protest against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's recent statements on the Hognekkal issue.

Jobs for Kannadigas

Implementation of Dr. Sarojini Mahishi Report in Karnataka, which recommends job reservations for Kannadigas in government departments, public sector units and even in the private sector, has been one of the major demands of Vedike. It continues to protest against the non-implementation of the report.

Reservations at HAL

On July 8, 2011 Karnataka Rakshana Vedike members staged a protest at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited based in Bangalore, India, is one of Asia's largest aerospace companies. Under the management of the Indian Ministry of Defence, this state-owned company is mainly involved in aerospace industry, which includes manufacturing and assembling aircraft, navigation and...

 (HAL) premises demanding reservation for Kannadigas as per the official language
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...

 policy applicable to all union Government organizations. Following this, Kannada Development Authority (KDA) chairperson Mukhyamantri Chandru
Mukhyamantri Chandru
Mukhya Mantri Chandru is a Kannada movie actor who resides in Bangalore, Karnataka. He is a versatile actor, easily fitting into comedy roles or playing more serious parts as a villain. Mukhya Mantri was a drama in which he played the lead which resulted in getting the prefix to his original name...

 also met with HAL officials and insisted on implementing Dr. Sarojini Mahishi report which recommends 100 percent reservation to locals for 'C' and 'D' category posts. HAL's HR executive director cited ignorance of the fact that even Central Government organizations
Government-owned corporation
A government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government...

 had to conform to the report’s recommendations and assured them of appointing Kannadigas to all of the 677 openings. Besides this, they were also presented facts that 11,262 people of its 15,162 workforce in Bengaluru
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

 consisted of Kannadigas.

Protest against English

KRV has vehemently opposed what it calls as the imposition of English in Karnataka. There have been incidents of the Vedike activists blackening English signboards in Karnataka (especially Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

) as protest against the non-conformance of commercial establishments with the Govt. of Karnataka rule that all signboards in Karnataka need to have Kannada more prominent than any other language. The Karnataka Shops & Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, under Rule 24-A states that the name board of every establishment shall be in Kannada and if any other language is used, it should be below the Kannada version. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike also issued notice
Notice
Notice is the legal concept in which a party is made aware of a legal process affecting their rights, obligations or duties. There are several types of notice: public notice , actual notice, constructive notice, and implied notice....

s to establishments that do not comply to this rule may have their licenses revoked.

Hindi imposition protest

In 2006, KRV held an "Anti Hindi-imposition conference" at Yavanika, Bengalooru, on September 14, which is celebrated as Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

Divas
("Hindi Day") in Central government institutions of India. The aim of the conference was to discuss plans for countering the imposition of Hindi on Kannadigas and the Central Government's Rajbhasha policy.

The conference was attended by K. Rajkumar, Ashok Doddameti, and chaired by T. A. Narayana Gowda. According to the Vedike, Hindi has been thrust upon all over Karnataka in Banks, post-offices, LIC offices etc., Hindi is being imposed on Kannadigas through the Administrative, Education System, Media and Entertainment, because of which Kannadigas are developing a feeling of inferiority towards their own language and slowly being made to feel that speaking Hindi is a pre-requisite for Indian nationality.

T. A. Narayana Gowda vehemently opposed this in his speech, and declared that this imposed feeling of inferiority is fatal for the future of Kannadigas. The conference passed a resolution to "celebrate" 14 Sept as "Anti Hindi-imposition day" every year. Twenty-five Vedike activists were arrested on this day for ransacking the office of All India Radio for airing Hindi programmes in lieu of the usual Kannada programmes even after requests against the same.

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