Ordinance soon on Kannada signboards for shops, says CM

Bengaluru, December 28

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Asserting that signboards in Karnataka must display information in Kannada, CM Siddaramaiah on Thursday said the government would enact an ordinance to ensure compliance, but issued a warning after pro-Kannada activists vandalised business establishments a day ago.

Anyone can protest but no one should cause damage to government or public property, he asserted. The CM was reacting to the large-scale vandalism in Bengaluru on Wednesday by members of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (TA Narayana Gowda faction) who targeted shops and business establishments that did not display Kannada signboards, advertisements and name plates.

Soon after the incident, KRV president TA Narayana Gowda was arrested and over 1,000 activists of the outfit were taken into preventive custody.

A magistrate court in Bengaluru on Thursday sent over 53 arrested pro-Kannada activists, including Gowda, to 14 days’ judicial custody till January 10. They have been lodged at Parappana Agrahara Central Jail.