Page 2 of
2 India's trailblazer losing its
way By Sudha Ramachandran
plunged in Hindu-Muslim violence.
Last April, the city went up in flames when
pro-Kannada activists went on a rampage through
the city after the death of Rajkumar. The actor
was aged and ailing and violence on his death was
expected, yet the city's law-and-order machinery
was unprepared and in a state of near-paralysis
for days after his death.
That the
law-and-order machinery evinces little confidence
in Bangaloreans is evident from the speed at which
the city shut
down
on Monday in anticipation of violence. Within
minutes of the announcement, schools, shops and
cinema halls closed, businesses came to a
standstill, vehicles went off the streets, and
Bangaloreans scurried home for cover.
Bangalore's central business district
emptied out post-noon. The road that links the
city with Hosur, an industrial town in Tamil Nadu
that abuts Bangalore, was deserted by 2pm as
information-technology companies sent their
employees home in anticipation of trouble.
Electronic City and other parts of Bangalore's IT
corridor ground to a halt on Monday.
Mob
violence in Bangalore last April cost the city
dearly. The impact on daily wage earners and small
businesses was serious. An estimated US$160
million worth of infrastructure was destroyed and
software firms alone lost revenue worth $40
million. Even if mobs desist from looting and
arson in the coming days, the demonstrations,
roadblocks, transport shutdowns and general
closures that are in the pipeline will have a
serious impact on lives and livelihoods. It is
also eroding Bangalore's image as an investment
destination.
The immediate cause for
protests in Bangalore this time might be the court
ruling on water-sharing. But it is only a
manifestation of deep-seated frustration and anger
among a section of the local population.
Kannada activism has witnessed a dramatic
increase in recent years. Although Bangalore is
the capital of a state that was created out of
Kannada-speaking regions, the city itself is
dominated by non-Kannadigas. It is said that
Kannada speakers constitute about 30% of the
population.
Kannadigas have felt swamped
by "outsiders" in their own capital. They feel
that Kannada culture and identity are under threat
in cosmopolitan Bangalore. The city is divided
culturally and economically, with the locals
feeling marginalized on both counts. Kannada
activists insist that most of those who have
prospered from the IT boom are not locals.
There is a yawning gap between employees
of the IT-BPO (business process outsourcing)
industry and the rest in spending power and
lifestyles. The affluent-underprivileged divide
more or less coincides with the outsider-local
divide, with the locals having to watch the
prosperity of the outsiders from the sidelines.
In the eyes of many locals, not only has
the software boom passed them by but, worse, they
are suffering because of it. Rents and the cost of
living have shot up in Bangalore. While employees
of the IT-BPO sector live and work in
air-conditioned comfort, the rest of the city
reels under electricity and water shortages.
To many outsiders, the mob fury is hard to
understand. Why, for instance, does the death of a
film star drive people to such violence? The death
of the film star and the tribunal ruling are
really matches that light the flame. The root
cause lies in simmering discontent. It is despair
over the disparity that is bringing out Kannadigas
- long known to be a placid lot - out on the
streets with growing frequency.
This
despair is being articulated in a variety of ways,
from objecting to the use of English on signboards
to stopping the screening of non-Kannada movies in
Bangalore. Kannada organizations are demanding
quotas for locals in the software industry. A
"Bangalore for Kannadigas" movement is gathering
steam. Many of the slogans being raised during the
protests against the tribunal ruling speak of
assault on Kannada pride.
Sadly, instead
of addressing the grievances of the locals in
substantial ways, the Karnataka government has
been making empty gestures. The move to rename
Bangalore is one such gesture that is aimed at
appeasing Kannada chauvinists but in real terms
achieves nothing. The new name "Bengaluru" is the
way the city is called in the local language.
Renaming the city is not going to address its
myriad problems or improve the living conditions
of its poor.
Sudha Ramachandran
is an independent journalist/researcher based in
Bangalore.
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