Mysuru
Demanding that postal office (Post Office) cash deposit and withdrawal challans be printed in the Kannada language, the Karnataka Sena Pade staged a protest by wearing black badges in front of the Mysuru Head Post Office.
The protesters condemned the fact that challans used in post offices for depositing money into savings accounts, recurring deposits (RD), PPF, and for withdrawing amounts after the maturity of various postal schemes are not available in Kannada at all. They termed this situation highly objectionable.
They pointed out that the challans are printed only in English on one part and Hindi on the other, which has deeply hurt the sentiments of Kannadigas and reflects an anti-Kannada attitude. Due to this, local Kannadigas who are not familiar with Hindi or English are forced to depend on others and seek help to fill up challans, which is an unfortunate and humiliating situation.
They highlighted that in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, challans are printed in English on one side and Tamil on the other. In a federal system, when challans are printed in the regional language in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the protesters questioned why challans are not printed in Kannada in Karnataka. This, they said, is a question being raised by the general public. They further questioned what the State Government, the Chief Minister, the Minister for Kannada and Culture, and the Kannada Development Authority are doing in this regard.
They asserted that postal challans, in whichever state they are used, should be printed in the respective local language. They questioned whether the postal department shows such disregard towards Kannada and Karnataka.
Stating that Kannadigas are sovereign in Karnataka and that the language of administration must be Kannada, the protesters said it is the misfortune of Kannadigas that elected representatives have failed to pay attention to this issue. Since the postal department functions under the Central Government, they urged all Members of Parliament from Karnataka to exert pressure in the Lok Sabha and ensure that Kannada is made mandatory on postal challans.
They warned that the Indian Postal Department must immediately abandon its anti-Kannada stance and begin printing challans in Kannada. Failing this, they cautioned that Kannadigas across the state would unite to boycott post offices and lock down all post offices in Karnataka.
The protest was led by District President Tejesh Lokesh Gowda. Those present included Golden Suresh, Prabhushankar, Prajeesh, Krishnappa, Dr. Mogannachar, Bogadi Siddegowda, Shivalingayya, Sindhuvalli Shivakumar, Neha, Dr. Narasimhegowda, Bhagyamma, Manjula, Jyothi, Geetha Gowda, Indira, Sujatha, Radhakrishna, Vani, Geetha, Tayuru Ganesh, Basavaraju, Prabhakar, Shivaram, Srinivas, Ashok, Narayanagowda, Raghu Aras, Darshan Gowda, Thyagaraj, Ravi Nayak, and several others.
