Bengaluru: Tech entrepreneur Kaushik Mukherjee has announced his decision to shut down his company’s Bengaluru office within six months and relocate operations to Pune, citing rising tensions over language issues in Karnataka.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Mukherjee wrote, “Today I took 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’.” He said the idea to shift was suggested by his staff, and he agreed with their concerns.
This move comes in the wake of a recent incident at the SBI branch in Bengaluru’s Chandapura area. A video of a bank manager refusing to speak Kannada with a customer went viral, with the manager reportedly saying, “This is India, I’ll speak Hindi, not Kannada.” The incident sparked outrage from Kannada groups and public figures.
Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya criticized the manager’s conduct as “not acceptable” and reiterated his demand that customer-facing staff in Karnataka be proficient in Kannada. “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,” Surya said.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also condemned the incident, urging the Union Finance Ministry to mandate cultural and language sensitivity training for bank employees across the country.
Following the backlash, the SBI manager has been transferred and has issued an apology in Kannada, expressing commitment to improved customer sensitivity in the future.
The Kannada Development Authority (KDA) has raised concerns about the increasing appointment of non-Kannadigas in public-facing roles, warning that it alienates local residents. As per RBI norms, banks are required to provide services in English, Hindi, and the regional language.
Mukherjee’s decision reflects growing unease among some sections of the business community regarding the region’s linguistic tensions, reigniting debate around inclusivity, regional identity, and workplace harmony.
