📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Election commission of India
Politics
Urdu Festival at Karnataka Assembly Triggers BJP and Kannada Group Protests
✍️ indiatoday.in
🗓 02 Oct 2026, 10:01 AM
👁 13
An Urdu cultural programme held inside the Karnataka Legislative Assembly sparked protests from the BJP and regional Kannada organisations.
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly hosted an Urdu cultural festival within its premises, aiming to showcase linguistic diversity. The event was organised as part of a broader cultural calendar of the state legislature.
The celebration drew immediate criticism from members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and several Kannada language advocacy groups, who assembled inside the assembly complex to voice their dissent. Protesters contended that the festival gave undue prominence to Urdu at the expense of the state language, Kannada.
Assembly officials maintained that the programme was intended to promote inclusive cultural expression and did not seek to marginalise any language. The row adds to a series of debates in Karnataka over language policy, cultural representation and the role of state institutions in celebrating minority languages.
The celebration drew immediate criticism from members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and several Kannada language advocacy groups, who assembled inside the assembly complex to voice their dissent. Protesters contended that the festival gave undue prominence to Urdu at the expense of the state language, Kannada.
Assembly officials maintained that the programme was intended to promote inclusive cultural expression and did not seek to marginalise any language. The row adds to a series of debates in Karnataka over language policy, cultural representation and the role of state institutions in celebrating minority languages.