BJP slams K’taka govt for making Urdu must-know language for Anganwadi teachers

Bengaluru: The Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government, in a recent notification, mandated Urdu as a must-know language for candidates applying for the Anganwadi teachers post in Mudigere and Chikkamagaluru districts. This decision has elicited severe criticism from the opposition BJP, which accuses Congress of being’ anti-Kannada’.
Karnataka BJP leader CT Ravi, on Tuesday, compared the recent mandate to how Hyderabad’s Nizam had imposed Urdu in the past. He criticized the Congress, stating that the Nizam’s soul now rests within the party.
“Nizam attempted to promote Urdu in Hyderabad, Karnataka region. Kannada schools were banned in his time…But his soul now resides within Congress. Congress is doing Nizam’s work. In his era, Tipu (Sultan) attempted to impose the Persian language against Kannada. Today, Congress is trying to turn Tipu’s and Nizam’s dreams into a reality. They are anti-Kannada,” Ravi said, according to newswire ANI.
Former BJP MP Nalinkumar Kateel also shared a similar view, accusing the Congress of ‘Muslim appeasement’. “The announcement that one must know Urdu to get an Anganwadi teacher job is unacceptable. This is yet another attempt by Congress to appease the Muslim community and restrict job opportunities. It’s a dangerous political strategy,” Kateel posted on X.
In addition, the BJP had also criticised Karnataka’s move on its social media handle on X. It questioned why Urdu was being imposed, even though Kannada was Karnataka’s official language.
“CM Siddaramaiah Aware, Minister of Women and Child Welfare Aware, Mudigere is in Karnataka, Kannada is the official language in Karnataka, why Urdu is mandatory in such ..?? Answer,” the party posted on X.
In Bangalore, there have been recent instances of clashes erupting among the public about Kannada being the official language of the state.
In September 2024, a man on a video was heard screaming at another for speaking in Hindi at a toll booth on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border. The video went viral and snowballed into a controversy.
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