Pro-Kannada protesters barge into Bengaluru’s Taj West End, disrupt event attended by MPs

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Sep 26, 2025: A group of pro-Kannada protesters barged into the five-star hotel, Taj West End, in Bengaluru and disrupted an event organised by the central government, alleging they were "imposing Hindi" in Karnataka. Dramatic visuals showed over 40 protesters, wearing yellow and red scarves (the colours of the Kannada flag), raising slogans, tearing the event’s posters, and smashing furniture in the hotel.

The incident took place on Thursday morning around 10:45 am.

Officials said that at least five MPs were attending the event - a meeting of the Hindi implementation committee.

Minutes into the incident, the Bengaluru police intervened and arrested a total of 41 protesters.

"The Parliamentary Committee on Official Language had organized a meeting from 23/09/2025 to 25/09/2025 at the Taj West End Hotel, Race Course Road, Bengaluru. On the final day of the meeting, 25/09/2025, the session commenced at 9:30 am. Between approximately 10:45 am and 11:00 am, about 30 to 40 members of an organisation illegally entered the venue in protest against the meeting agenda, obstructed the work of government officials present, and created a disturbance. This caused a temporary disruption to the meeting. The police immediately arrived at the scene, took the protestors into custody, and controlled the situation," the police said in a statement.

While the meeting faced a brief interruption, it continued as per the scheduled program later on.

The police filed a case against the pro-Kannada groups at the High Grounds police station.

The arrested protesters were produced before the court which ordered their judicial custody.

According to the pro-Kannada activists belonging to the Kannada Rakshana Vedike (KRV) group, the event held at the hotel "represented the ongoing imposition of Hindi over Kannada and other languages".

"Instead of respecting the sentiments of Kannadigas, the administration has chosen to suppress voices by arresting activists and preparing to file false and baseless cases against them. Sources say that the second most influential figure in the national capital is forcing police to file a baseless case against KRV members," they said.