Kannada Language Row: Tech Founder Plans To Shift Business From Bengaluru Over Safety Of Employees

Tech entrepreneur Kaushik Mukherjee has announced his plans to shift his office from Bengaluru to Maharashtra’s Pune over the regional Kannada language row. His remarks followed amid the controversy linked to a non-Kannada SBI manager who went viral on social media for refusing to communicate in the local language with a customer.

“Today, I made a decision to wind up our Bangalore office in the next 6 months and move it to Pune. If this language nonsense is to continue, I do not want my non-Kannada speaking staff to be the next ‘victim’,” Mukherjee’s post read on X on Thursday.

He was reacting to the viral video shared by BJP MP Tesjasvi Surya.

Mukherjee’s X bio says that he is an entrepreneur and an activist.

Disclaimer: NDTV Profit cannot verify the authenticity of the X user's claim.

Surya criticised the female SBI employee over the matter.

“This behaviour by the SBI Branch Manager is simply not acceptable. If you are doing customer interface work in Karnataka, especially in a sector like banking, it is important to communicate to customers in the language they know. Being adamant like this is simply not right,” Surya’s X post read.

The over one-minute-long video from Bengaluru’s Chandrapura shows the branch manager arguing with a customer. Communicating with the customer in English, the woman says, “This is India…I will not speak in Kannada.” She has now been transferred. Earlier, CM Siddaramaiah had also criticised the staff, who have now issued an apology over the incident.

The issue has emerged amid the broader debate over the Kannada language controversy in the southern state. The state has seen a push for the dominant use of Kannada in public spaces by pro-Kannada groups. This move has been opposed by many non-locals who migrate to the state for work purposes. Similar incidents were reported in the past as well.

On the row, India’s largest bank, SBI, said that it practises a “zero tolerance” policy towards such people. “State Bank of India maintains a policy of zero tolerance towards any behaviour that adversely affects the sentiments of our customers. We remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring respectful and dignified conduct towards all citizens,” the SBI said in a statement.

Mukherjee’s post has garnered mixed reactions from X users. With more than two million impressions and over 4,500 comments, some supported his decision, while others told him that it was not the right thing to do.