A video showing a heated conversation between a local Bengaluru resident and a non-Kannada speaker is going viral on social media, sparking mixed reactions. In the clip, shared on X by user @ManjuKBye, a local man is seen questioning another individual about his inability to speak Kannada, despite having lived and worked in Karnataka for 12 years. The local accuses the non-Kannada speaker of being "disrespectful" to the local culture and language. "You want a job here, you want a salary here, but you don't want the language here," the local says. The Bengaluru native concludes with, "At least learn Kannada, okay? This is Bengaluru, not Mumbai or Gujarat." He finishes by asserting, "This is our state, our India."
Sharing the video on the microblogging site, the X user wrote, "12yrs in Karnataka and yet to understand and learn Kannada? That says only Two things, Zero Curiosity and willingness to Learn, Arrogance towards Local Culture and Language."
Take a look below:
Since being shared, the clip has garnered more than 77,000 views. It received mixed reactions in the comments section, with many criticising the local man's behaviour as an example of language imposition.
"Who the hell you are ask us to learn Kannada. Its none of your business. It's our wish whether to learn or not. You don't have any right to make it mandatory. Its not an arrogance, its his wish. You stay in AP or Telangana and we never force you to learn Telugu Language. This is India not Afghanistan," wrote one user.
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"Well it is "good" to learn the local language and also great if I can interact with local people who cannot speak other languages in their native tongue, but it is certainly not mandatory. If he has lived 12 years in a city without learning the language, it also means he didn't feel the "need" and that not knowing the language never was a handicap," expressed another.
"Knows English or Hindi should suffice. Learning local language is fully upto an individual despite living 65 years in the region. Get your h out of your a and need to move on ..these local language enforcement agents," commented a third user. "This is harassment on streets. The guy filming this needs to be arrested," wrote a fourth user.
"Sometimes it's really hard to learn a new language when you are a grown up it's a genuine problem. I have been living in Maharashtra for the last 20 years and have not been able to learn Marathi but no one here has ever harassed me for not knowing the language," shared one user.
