and now to our top southern focus. This evening, Canada of ad activists were out on the streets of Bengaluru, vandalising some of the city's high profile business establishments on the airport road and pelting stones at signboards. Their protest was to rite the space for Canada in signboards. It's an old issue. But we erupted after the Bhat Bengaluru Mahan alike reiterated a 2018 order and set a deadline of end February for shops and establishments to have 60% of their signboards in Canada. LANGUAGE While the love for language is much appreciated, the enforcement of it with brute force is worrying Ben Gurion and tainting the city's global and inclusive image. Prati Bar Raman sets up our discussion this evening. Vandalism and violence in the name of Canada. Language protests by the K of ad in the city tainted the image of a global IT capital. An awareness drive to rename sign boats in Canada by the hardline be turned aggressive. Several thousands of protesters destroyed name boats, belted stones and attacked showrooms that had English sign boards. Can activists are here trying to vandalise the boards of the shop here. This is the road on Bella, the road leading to the airport from Belu City in the Jags and Shanti. The language assertion Rao was reignited after Bengaluru S municipal body reasserted an order for all shopkeepers to have 60% of name bodes in Canada. The original order was passed in 2018, but the new deadline is set for February end. During the previous regime of Sida, too, Hindi names of Banglore metro stations were targeted and now the Congress government is accused of letting such acts of vandalism go unchecked. We can't condone violence. We can allow for people to protest and express their views and to propagate their issues. But to take law into our hands to secret public property, private property, all that should not be allowed. Two days after the announcement of the civic body, the activists decided to enforce the order with brute force. While politicians may benefit from such acts, the global city's businesses are the ones that are paying the price. The protest, organised by Kara activists in Bangalore, was already announced, but it took a violent turn. Why? Why did the government not take enough steps? Why did the cops not take enough steps beforehand? to ensure that this remains as peaceful as promised. But cameraperson go with Rahman and beg for Prati also put some tough questions across to Karnataka Minister Dinesh Guna, who remember is also an important ML a from the city's Gandhinagar constituency for the Congress and asked him if the government is going soft on such protests for political calculus. Minister Dinesh So thank you so much for joining us. So on a day like this, when Canada activists have gone on a rampage, how is it that the Congress government has been tacitly allowing this? I mean is are politicians gaining out of, you know, letting these acts go unchecked? Well, I don't think that is a thing. I do not know what exactly has happened and why it has happened. But I'm sure that the police should have acted more firmly because we can't allow acts of vandalism. Yes, everyone's got a right to protest and to express their view but to destroy public property or private property. And, uh, you know, doing that with impunity is not good. And, uh, I think, uh, I will definitely have a word with our police commissioner also and, uh, to take this so that these things should not be repeated. So when it comes to these kind of acts, I mean, how different is it or is it the same as being divisive, like language vandalism being as divisive as communal politics? What's your take? Well, language chauvinism does exist to some extent because also pride in our language And when when we see, uh, you know, other languages trying to, um especially dominate, uh, in our own areas, I think that is, that tends to happen, Uh, be that as it may, but, uh, to, um use that as a tool to, you know, indulge in violence is not good. And, uh, we should express our views. Uh, firmly, strongly, Uh, we are all proud of our language. And, uh, we want the, uh we want the Kerala language to fly high and more people speak, understand, learn. But I think at the same time, violent acts, whether it's communal or in the name of language in the name of caste in the name of religion is definitely something that we should not tolerate. This has definitely scarred the image of Bangalore being an it capital being, you know, having a very global image. How do you think this will be checked? How do you think that people who are responsible for this will definitely have to pay the price? I will definitely have a word with our commissioner and our home Minister. And just check with them also and see that what has happened today takes talk of exactly what happened. I do not have the full information. Also in the future, how do we tackle these kind of things? I think they should be both approaches. And anyone who has taken the law into their hands should face, you know, whatever. Is there under the law the consequences He should he or she should face. So that is also something that the police should do with a firm hand. That will be my, uh, request. I mean, what? What? I will definitely be having a word with our home minister. That was ka minister promising that, uh, definitely this would not go unchecked. And that uh, uh, actions would be taken in terms of not repeating what benu witnessed today with camera person Govan Prati Rahman in Benu for ND TV. Well, it's a worrying trend such protests. Such imposition use of brute force often hurts the larger business sentiment and the larger image of Bengaluru City as a global destination. Arun Banasa of the Karnataka Raksha ave joins us this evening also with us well known actor Chetan Kumar Ahsa, who has consistently taken on such protests and such imposition. My first question to you, Mr Bagga. While love for language is much appreciated, sir, such use of brute force to impose something and violent acts. Vandalism only destroys the image of the city we love so much. Why is it that the Kandi direction of Adk has indulged in such activities? See, there is a law already. That, uh, says that, uh, 60 more than 65% of po like place should be given for Canada in all the name nameplates. Whatever, Uh, commercial establishments. This law is there from a very long time. OK, and there is a campaign going on for this from very long time from Canada. Activist, This is not, uh, started from today, OK, this is happening from a very long time. And the government and the BNP officials have failed to respond to this because they only made the law and they are keeping quiet when there is a violation. Right? So I was hearing the statement from Dinesh Gun Rao. He is. It is. It is actually the failure of government to implement the law. And it is the failure of BB MP to act on such violations. OK, And when you see that there is a lot of things For example if you go to banks, right? Don't look at this as an isolated incident, ok? There is a lot of things going on in Karnataka like people are asked to go out of India when they are not able to speak. You let me finish my point, ok? Don't look at this But there is a There is a February deadline. So there is a deadline that's been given by the BB. Why can't you wait till then? Yes. So why can't The government was keeping quiet till now. The government has given the statement just two days before. Why are they not taking action? Because this law was made long back way long back not from this is not created just a few days back. So when this campaign started becoming big only then government issued that. OK, we will extend it till February. OK, that too. We met the B BNP commissioner and we asked We asked the commissioner to take action. OK, they should have given the strong. What do you say? Notice to the commercial establishments who are not following the rules. They did not do that. OK, it is. It is clearly a failure of BMP officials and there is a clear failure from the government side. And also there is a lot of campaigns going on in Karnataka and media is not even bothered to consider those. So when there is a such when there is such violent protest happens, only then media will open their eyes. OK, Do you know that the bank doesn't have to open? I think I have to. I have to. I have to get as well I have to get as well. What's your sense when it comes to this kind of this kind of a brute protest? Does it hurt the image of Bangalore before I talk about the the Vandal? But oh, unfortunately, unfortunately, chain's audio is getting frozen. We'll try and fix that. But, Mr Bagga, the question that's been raised very clearly is that this is a global city. While a lot of us appreciate the love and the need for propagation of the language, there is no need to use brute force to impose such things. A B, When you do that, you're only hurting businesses in Bangalore City. Which is the reason why the city is thriving. Yes or no? You are on mute. You're on mute. You'll have to unmute yourself. Yeah, Sorry. Sorry. Ok, uh I hope you can hear me now. I have I have uh uh I know that a lot of I I Yeah, I have travelled to a lot of, uh uh global cities, OK? And And I have what I have seen is the local languages are not are given first preference than any other languages. OK, but if you come to Bangalore, the Canada is given the second or last preference when the sign board or whatever is considered by the lot of establishments. So there is two problems here. One is the government side have made the law and the commercial establishments. They are ignoring Canada. Ok, And and And you are seeing this as I said last time. This is not an isolated incident. OK, there is a lot of things happening in Karnataka. As I said, people are not getting government exams in Canada. People are asked to leave India for not knowing Hindi and because no media media is actually doing the programme about all these. OK, when there is a violent protest on that point, I'm sorry I have to interrupt you again because I believe we can go across to Chetan Chetan. Go ahead OK a couple of important points before I bring up the vandalism aspect Number one Any protest demonstration must be defined and valued according to its demand. The demand for the protesters in the demonstration today is a justifiable demand. It's a demand based on law. It's a demand based on the federal system. 2018 BB MP, a civic body says 60% Canada should be there 40% of the language it hasn't been implemented, so these are illegal boards. Number two. This is not just a cosmetic demand. It is also something that is accessibility. See, a large portion of Karnataka does not know. English doesn't have to know. English does not cannot read English they are left out of these kind of elite establishment places speaking English almost like a colonial elitism. They don't have accessibility to coffee shops, hotels, stores, restaurants, various things. Number three protesters are is the right is a democratic right, I agree. And that is something the B JP infringed on. For many years, Congress, even in the Palestinian issue, was not allowing it to allowed it. Today, that is a good thing to protest happened. But the fourth thing in terms of vandalism in terms of vandalism, I personally do not believe that anything should be destroyed in terms of vandalism property. I do see the rationale that there is a is a quick and a swift way to justice. That is something that has been neglected. This is aggravation by the people of Karnataka, and that is a responsibility by the government for a long time. And it's a frustration that these elitist, established corporate English speaking establishments want our land and want our money, but don't value our language. So I understand. But I do not believe that this should be the method. This is swift, but it has long term consequences. I believe this should have been a peaceful method, but their value the justified demand is definitely there. By February 28th, all English should be removed in terms of its prominence. It should be given 50 or 40%. 60% should be Canada. It's a justifiable demand. That's a justifiable demand. Nobody is questioning the demand per SE. Nobody is talking about the non propagation of the local language. That's not the point. The point here is one of vandalism. The point here is to enforce that with brute force. Is that acceptable? I do not believe that as an activist myself, as a Canada activist, vernacular activist, activist against the system of inequality, I do not support vandalism. But at the same time I do see the reasons and the rationale behind it. I am not justifying that, but I can understand it. But I do not support vandalism. I believe in other ways of doing it. But these are illegal boards and these are an art. This is a fight for the federal spirit, but I and it's not attack any people. No people have been attacked. No people should be attacked. But this even the destruction of property, is something I don't necessarily agree with. But I do value this protest and I feel it's necessary. Mr. Baka. Mr. Baka, that's the concern. When you indulge in vandalism, you are shaking business confidence in this city there can be a negotiation. There can be a request. There can be a protest to ensure that your demands are met but not vandalism. Sir, we we are requesting and we are We are requesting We are demanding for Canada prominence from very long time. OK, this as I said in the beginning, this campaign is going on for a very long time, at least for six months. This is a continuous campaign going on in Karnataka. So that is what I'm saying. So media will not see when there is a silent protest or there is a request given to someone. There is a request given to bank so no media will see that media will only see when there is a like everything in the country. When things go wrong, you can blame the media. But I think I think you can blame the media. But I think the message is very clear. You can blame you can blame Karan ka for the failure of government and failure of officials. It is very easy. The first question should be asked to the minister why you are why you reporter did not ask why you did not implement it. You should ask the question to the minister, right? Why? The question was not asked. There are many reasons to be asked to the government as well, but I have to leave it there. We are running out of time. We are running out of time. I'll have to leave it there. But thank you for joining us. This is a debate that we will continue to focus on in this city, perhaps one that concerns every citizen of this global city, but now to two separate and worrying industrial accidents in north Chennai. The first was a dangerous ammonia gas leak from the pipeline of the Coromandel International's Fertiliser Unit near in in north Chennai late last night and the other was a fire accident at the Indian Oil Corporation refinery in Tharpe area of north Chennai again this afternoon, in which one person was killed and three others injured after the gas leak last night, around 42 people in the neighbouring residential areas were hospitalised after they complained of irritation and nausea. While many have been discharged, all of them are out of danger and have been treated for irritation to the eyes, breathing difficulty, nausea and other systems symptoms. Reports suggest there was a drop in pressure of the pipeline noticed just before mid and that the leak could have happened in the pipeline that carry ammonia gas shipments from vessels at the NR port to the factory. The fire at the IOC refinery erupted during maintenance work between an ethanol and sludge tank. Investigations are underway to find the exact cause of the fire and five lac rupees as compensation has been announced for the family of the deceased in the accident. Tamanna Health Minister Maman visited those who were affected by the ammonia gas leak and had this to say We look at the room for the over over A A. Well, Sam Daniel now joins us on the phone line. Sam, just tell us what are the immediate steps that have been taken and really, what details have you been able to pick up? As far as both these incidents are concerned as far as the ammonia gas leak is concerned. The Tamil Nadu government has ordered the immediate temporary closure of the plant, the Coromandel International Limited Fertiliser Manufacturing plant, for one week until the issue was sorted till they detect the exact point where the leak took place, perhaps the pipeline under the sea and then rectified. Meanwhile, the government has also constituted an expert committee comprising experts from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, the IAT Madras and the CRI in Chennai. They have to file a rapid report in 24 hours and then a report, a detailed report in three days time based on which the government will take further action. But the Pollution Control Board, as we speak now, has clarified that the leakage has been stopped and the people in that area need not worry or panic. But certainly environmentalists have asked several questions. If the Coromandel International Limited had frequent periodic inspections, how did this happen? If they did not have it, why didn't they have it? And if they had, what are the lessons to be learned? That's what they're asking. In fact, they're demanding closure of all those industries for a safety or force to avert any major crisis regarding the second incident at the IOC terminal at Sunday. Their officials say this particular they call it a fire accident, while the Fire Service department call it a blast. They say this happened when a maintenance work, a welding work, was happening between the ethanol tank and the slo tank. One person died. Three others suffered injuries. They say an expert in the is under way. Only after that they'll be able to clearly pinpoint what went wrong. But they say in all likelihood the operations will resume. This has come as a third such incident in northern part of Chennai, which is still grappling with the floods and the more recent oil spill that happened at the CP plant in another part of Chennai. Closer to that's right, Sam, this is coming amidst a series of worrying incidents there in north Chennai, that area, as you point out, thanks very much there, Sam Daniel with the details of those two incidents accidents one at the Coromandel International Fertiliser Unit and then the other at the Indian Oil Corporation's refinery. As Sam was pointing out the IOC, calling it a fire accident, whereas the Fara is calling it a blast. We wait those details as the investigations dwell into those two incidents there. But from those incidents in Chennai to the rush at Sabri Mallah, the crowds were enormous. And in election season, the politics over alleged mismanagement and poor arrangement for the pilgrims at Sabri Mallah has taken centre stage over a lack. Pilgrims visited Sabri Allah yes and day before. As the auspicious season is nearing a close and there were several complaints over arrangements made for them. Many hundreds had to go through extreme difficulty in reaching the temple. The BJP has accused the LDF government in Kerala of being ill prepared, and so has the home, including sharp criticism of the LDF government from the high profile Si Peru. My colleague Umar Soil has the details. Once again, there was a heavy rush at the Sabri Mala Temple today, even as the Madala Puja is expected to happen tonight. What we understand is that all through this 41 day period of the Madala Puja that began on November 16th, we have been hearing these complaints of big rash and long hours of wait 10 to 12 hours that pilgrims had to wait in the queues as well. And what the authorities had done is that as against what was happening over the last week, more than one la people one la 7001 la 9000 people who were at the pilgrimage centres, you know, just yesterday day before what they did was that on December 26th, the virtual booking was restricted to 64,000. December 27th. The virtual booking was restricted to 70,000, with the spot bookings restricted to 15,000. As per the high court orders here in Kerala earlier, what we were seeing was that spot bookings were going up 30,000. And that was one of the reasons why we were seeing the unprecedented rush. People are talking about also women, Children and also very elderly people coming in for the D. And because of that the pilgrimage that is one of course, from the PM to the Sandi Dan itself and then the 18 steps, what is called the pair? All that was becoming quite quite a bit of time it was taking because of which there were delays. The authorities of in Kerala had said that they were providing biscuits and water and also trying to ensure that the crowd was managed in such a manner that there wouldn't be confusion there would be a safe and smooth passage for the pilgrims. But Tamil Nadu BJP chief Anna Mala in fact has criticised both the Kerala government as well as the Tamil Nadu government for failing to ensure the safety of the pilgrims, and they also said that you know not adequate arrangements. He said in fact that the Kerala was unprepared and despite the fact that year after year there are pilgrims, this time they were unprepared and that there were there was zero crowd management. Earlier, we also saw Telangana, BJP chief and union minister Kishan Reddy making a similar criticism against the authorities in Kerala. But what I must point out is that in January once again we will see 80,000 bookings allowed in the virtual route as well, so hopefully everything goes off smoothly. Well, that's all we have time for. On the Southern view. The news continues here on a BT
