Bengaluru witnessed a surge of linguistic nationalism as pro-Kannada activists, predominantly from the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), staged a protest on December 27. The demonstration was a direct response to Karnataka's language norms stated for various business establishments. Amidst this situation, an influencer's post on X has gone viral, and memes related to it followed.
Upasana Mishra, an influencer from Bihar, seized the moment to extend an invitation to Karnataka companies to invest in Bihar, promising a supportive and broad-minded environment. Her post quickly went viral, leading to a lot of memes and discussions.
“On behalf of the whole of Bihar I'm inviting to all companies of Karnataka, Come & invest in Bihar, we will help you to set up everything. Bihar is a broad minded state and we welcome you all. Jai Bihar. Jai Hind,” she wrote.
While some people used humour to comment on Bihar's infrastructure challenges, others appreciated the gesture of solidarity and the call for unity and investment in the state.
The posts were so many in number that 'Biharis' occupied a top spot in the trending list on X.
The KRV activists' discontent was fuelled by the recent directive from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which mandated that all commercial signboards must feature at least 60% of their content in Kannada.
The protest escalated into a spree of vandalism where activists targeted and defaced signboards and nameplates that failed to prominently display the Kannada language. This wave of activism led to the closure of two of Bengaluru's largest malls, Phoenix Mall of Asia in Hebbal and Phoenix Marketcity in Whitefield, as they became focal points of the protest due to their non-compliant signboards.
