Urging Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to reconsider the Malayalam Bhasha Bill, 2025, which mandates Malayalam as first language even in Kannada-medium schools, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday warned that Karnataka would oppose the Bill by exercising every constitutional right available to it in defence of Kannada-speaking linguistic minority.
“This position flows not from confrontation, but from our duty to the Constitution and to the people whose voices must never be marginalised. Any legislative measure must reflect not only constitutional legality, but constitutional morality,” Mr. Siddaramaiah, while expressing concern, said in a letter to his Kerala counterpart on Friday.
“Karnataka takes immense pride in Kannada. At the same time, we have always upheld the principle that promotion of one’s language must never become an imposition on another,” he said in the letter.
His letter to Mr. Vijayan comes in the light of the Bill making Malayalam mandatory as first language up to Class X in government and aided schools across Kerala.
Karnataka fears that the mandatory Malayalam would affect Kannada speaking linguistic minority in Kerala, especially in Kasaragod district. Mr. Siddaramaiah had also expressed his anguish over the issue on social media platform X on Thursday.
Urging the Kerala government to engage in a broader, inclusive dialogue with linguistic minority communities, educators and neighbouring States, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “Languages in our country have flourished not through compulsion, but through mutual respect and organic co-existence. Border regions like Kasaragod are living examples of this ethos. A substantial population in Kasaragod relies on and seeks education in Kannada. This preference has evolved naturally over decades. Respecting this reality does not diminish Malayalam rather it strengthens India’s plural fabric.”
Meanwhile, speaking in Belagavi, Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadgi said that, if needed, Mr. Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar would meet President Droupadi Murmu to request her to see that the Bill did not get approval.
“We will request her to send a team of officers from the Linguistic Minorities Department to inquire into the issue and submit a report. We will also write to the Kerala Governor. The Karnataka Border Area Development Authority has already met the Kerala Governor asking him not to give his assent,’’ he told reporters.
Curated by James Chen
