BIAL: the forgotten shame

Bengaluru's new airport will doubtless stop travelers from frowning if not go as far as bringing smiles to their faces. But hey, aren't we missing something amidst gigabytes after gigabytes of rant on the airport itself, its facilities, approach roads and traffic? With popular media devoting itself to the number of conveyor belts and plush interiors, the public is being gently escorted away from the shameful way in which Indian administration has suppressed The Kannadiga People, their right to employment, their language in regard to this airport.


We are being made to forget that Kannadigas were promised jobs in return for land and cheated in broad daylight. We are being made to forget that the airport continues to stink of Hindi and flushes Kannada - the language of the very land on which the airport stands - down microprocessor-controlled urinals. We are being made to forget how Hampi and the rest of Karnataka's proud history and culture have been considered too inferior for the ambience of our own airport. We are being made to forget how workers of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike - who were peacefully demonstrating against the injustice done to Kannadigas have been made to fill jails like criminals. Who are the real criminals? Those who ask for their own rights, or those who suppress others' rights like colonial masters?

Yes, all the hue and cry about material comforts at the new airport has buried the fact that the Kannadiga spirit together with everything that unites Kannadigas and makes us one has been given a death blow. Everything that we were, are, and want to be has been gloriously neglected. We are being told that what matters is what others were, are, and want to be.

Won't we get up? Won't we scratch the shining walls of the new airport and stand up for fellow Kannadigas? Won't we? Won't we? Won't we?

Also read: Airport: what ought to be and what shall be, Bengaluru should learn from Beijing

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its not only in Bengalooru, but its that same thing in new Hyderabad Airport. Localites has very less say in terms of employment this airport. This a very sad development.

Anonymous said...

I saw pictures of some boards in the new airport and that made me wonder why Kannada signs/ instructions come last, after English and Hindi, and that too in the smallest of fonts. Forget giving the airport a Hampi kind of look, Kannada is nowhere to be seen. And I still do not understand why we need Hindi. Let there be only two languages, Kannada and English, with Kannada signs appearing first and in bigger/ bolder fonts.

A big thumbs-down to the Airport officials, the Hindi-mad Centre, and the boot-licking attitude of the local politicians. Boooooooooooo!

Anonymous said...

Given the airport has employed almost 50-60% local kannadigas, compared to roughly 20-30% at local IT/BT companies, I think BIAL has done a far better job than the rest. Besides, they have a stated policy of preference to locals, and that really makes them stand out IMO.

Anonymous said...

What we need to do is launch a full fledged movement to kick out hindi.We need to have books , forums , pamphlets , everything.This blog is a good starting point.We need to continue further.

Anonymous said...

Does any body/can anybody here answer the following questions:

1.) How many Bengalis in Calcutta airport?

2.) How many Tamils in Chennai airport?

3.) Maharashtrians in Mumbai airport?

Obviously, not excepting exact % but a rough idea.

There will be something to compare it to then and we can have an idea of how well or badly we're doing.

Anonymous said...

ಇವರಿಗೆ ಹೇಗೆ ತಿಳ್ಸೋದು ಜನಕ್ಕೆ ಏನ್ ಬೇಕು ಅಂತ? ಇವರ websiteನಲೆನಾದ್ರೊ ಮರುಮಾಹಿತಿ ವಿಭಾಗ ಇದ್ಯಾ?

Anonymous said...

http://www.bialairport.com/contact.htm?cid=top&ses=bial

contact phone & email are given in this page.

Anonymous said...

Can we all bombard the above email address with requests to provide south-indian eateries at the airport and not the north-indian stuff? I am starting today.
-Kannaditi

Anonymous said...

When Rajiv Gandhi , the then Congress Party General Secretary , insulted AP Chief Minister , a wave of reaction swept through the state and resulted in the rise of the Telugu Desam party.It was almost 25 years before congress could make some kind of return to the politics in that state.

Cut back to Karnataka. The same Rajiv Gandhi insulted Virendra Patil because of which he developed paralysis. What was the reaction among kannadigas ? Absolutely nothing !

We need either a dravidian movement like in TN , or the Telugu Desam Gowravam movement in AP.

ಪುಟ್ಟ PUTTA said...

Guys,
Its working! I wrote to BIAL and I got response from them saying they will correct their mistakes. You too can give a try.

Anonymous said...

Putta,

Pls forward your email and the response you got to kacheri@banavasibalaga.org

ಪುಟ್ಟ PUTTA said...

yep.. I have forwarded it.

Anonymous said...

Do you remember the fuss the liberals made when we decided to change the name of he city from bangalore to bengaluru ? They said it will lead to utter chaos , people will not recognise us , planes will not be able to land in our airports , foreigners will be flummoxed and we will lose business to Andhra. A regressive move in a globalised world and the world will not recognise it.and many more such rants.We were made to belive it would be the end of the city itself. But the other day when I went to google earth was pleasantly surprised to see it had changed it to bengaluru and shivamogga.Same with yahoo geotools. The world has no problems with bengaluru and belagavi , it is the upperclass liberals who have a problem with kannada words.They prefer the "stylish anglicised" words and then accuse us of narrow-mindedness

Anonymous said...

Why should a regional language like Hindi even find a place on the boards in airports and on the so-called national highways in non-Hindi states? Boards should only be in the national language of the people of the state first, followed by English! There should be no place for Hindi in non-Hindi states!

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