41 held for storming Bengaluru hotel to protest 'Hindi promotion' meet

Bengaluru: Forty-one members of a pro-Kannada outfit were arrested for allegedly forcing their way into a five-star hotel here in protest against Hindi Diwas event and causing a disturbance, police said on Friday.

The Ministry of Home Affairs' Rajbhasha Samiti had organised a "Hindi Promotion Meeting" at the hotel, attended by six Members of Parliament, when members of the pro-Kannada outfit barged in on Thursday, according to sources.

Raising slogans against the event, the activists alleged that the meeting was an attempt to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.

According to a police statement, the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language had organised a meeting from September 23 to 25 at the hotel on Race Course road here.

On the final day of the meeting, the session commenced at 9.30 am.

"Between approximately 10.45 am and 11 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," it stated.

The police immediately arrived at the scene, took the protestors into custody, and brought the situation under control. Consequently, the meeting at the hotel experienced a brief interruption but was completed as planned due to the police's timely intervention.

"A case was registered against the protestors at High Grounds Police Station, and legal action was taken. A total of 41 protestors were arrested and produced before the 1st ACJM Court, which sent them to judicial custody," it added.