SUNAAD RAGHURAM writes: The anguish over the unfeeling lack of primacy for Kannada in Karnataka has surfaced from time to time.
But the nirabhimanigalu that most Kannadigas are seen to be (and this tag is not without solid basis), the protests have invariably died a natural death.
My friend Santosh Muniyappa, an ardent Kannadiga and software consultant based in Poland, has sent me a copy of the petition to the Karnataka government that he wants me to sign protesting the anti-Kannada attitude of private FM channels in Bangalore.
http://www.petitiononline.com/protstfm/petition.html
The petition reads thus:
“The FM radio channels currently operating in Bangalore are providing their programmes primarily in Hindi. Radio City [91.0 MHz] provides about 10-15% of non-prime time entertainment programmes in Kannada but the announcements and advertisements are not in Kannada.
“Radio Mirchi [93.3 MHz] provides no entertainment programmes in Kannada but announcements and a few advertisements are in what they consider as Kannada. In summary, these channels do not consider the existence of Kannada-speaking people who constitute over 80% population in the area of their coverage in and around Bangalore.
”The FM radio channels forget that they have been provided licenses for localized programming. They also forget that they operate in the state of Karnataka which is one of the states of Union of India, that India has a federal system and states have been formed on linguistic basis.
”Private FM channels provide wholesome entertainment and information in the language of the state in other states of Union of India (examples: Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh).
”Listed below are a few instances which indicate the discrimination against Kannada and Kannadigas by these FM radio channels:
1. “The channels always air Hindi film songs, ghazals and pop songs but rarely air Kannada film songs, folk songs, light music and classical music.
2. “Weather updates, traffic updates and health tips are primarily in Hindi with a sprinkling of English in between. The common man of Bangalore who needs the same information has been denied this just because of his Kannada origin.
3. “Most of the Radio Jockeys (RJ) of these channels don’t speak Kannada and among the ones who speak, speak Kannada in a very ridiculing manner.
”The intention of these channels is to expand and establish market for Hindi films and Hindi music in Bangalore. Hence there is a deliberate attempt to deny entertainment in Kannada and diminish the market for Kannada film and music industry.
“These channels by airing Hindi programs, giving updates in Hindi have been imposing Hindi on the common man of Bangalore. This goes against the federal structure of Indian Union and denies Kannadigas the right to protect their language & culture in their native state.
”We the undersigned protest the discrimination by Radio City (91 MHz) and Radio Mirchi (93.3 MHz) against Kannadigas. We have been hurt by the attitude and activities of these Radio channels.
“We demand that these channels stop the discrimination against Kannadigas and stop the imposition of Hindi on Kannadigas. We demand that all the FM channels operating in Bangalore provide entertainment & information to people of Bangalore in the language of the land, Kannada.”
The petition, as on Saturday morning, has 1,126 signatures. If there is a stirring inside you for the sake of the honour of Kannada do log on to
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?protstfm&1
and wake up, speak up, stand up for your land and language.
I read the petition and wanted to sign but as i am not a resident of bangalore i didn’t but through this blog i extended my full support for ur movement i live in chennai where even fm radio is full of tamil. tamil songs are popularised by this channels here we have radio mirchi too which airs tamil. when it is possible in tamil i am sure it is definetly possible in kannada too all the best sir .
One thing that needs attention, how come the writer of this article is not bothered about english being the primary language to converse in bangalore. Then come to think of it Bangalore is a cosmopolitan city so it can accept ENGLISH , but not Hindi, maybe talking in english is the “in” thing. English in any form is ok , either movies or songs is ok in Bangalore.Instead of fighting against one own country’s language i think you should be fighting against “ENGLISH” which has taken a dominant place in Indian Education, Entertainment and media. I am sure there are lot more people who will agree with this i.e against English than people agreeing with your article.I am a kannadiga, and i have stayed in bangalore for a very long time but that does not mean i am against Hindi which is our National language. Can some one tell me what is the “english “language to us ?
GeLayare ,
FM radiogaLa kannada virodhi prasarakke nodi prathibhatane(KRV )
http://www.kannadaaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?p=379363#post379363
Hi Mrs BVS,
I don’t agree with your comments, you want your language and land to rip off ?
Santosh
Warsaw, Poland
I fail to understand since when did Hindi become ‘National Language’
Do we have it in our constitution .This misconception is only among us kannadigas .
Swamy BVS , Stylege English maatadkondu namma kannadakke yee gathi bandirodhu . If you read some other Blogs Karanth,Kuvempu and URA were/are all excellant english writers too but did they not contribute to us in Kannada .
Kannada baLake nima Abhimaanadhalli yidhe . English mathadodhu doddadhalli nimma vyavaharadhalli athyadhika vaagi baLaso bhaashe.Addhre namma sutha mutha namma maneyalli,vyaparadhalli namma dichariyalli namma bhaashe baLasadre…yaar thathana gantu yenu hogathe heli swalpa
FM broadcasting in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the mid-nineties, when India first experimented with private FM broadcasts, the small tourist destination of Goa was the fifth place in this country of one billion where private players got FM slots. The other four centres were the big metro cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai.
Indian policy currently lays down that these bids are a One-Time Entry Fee (OTEF), for the entire license period of 10 years. Under the Indian accounting system, this amount is amortised for the 10 year period at 10% per year. Annual license fee for private players is either 4% of revenue share or 10% of Reserve Price, whichever is higher.
Earlier, India’s attempts to privatise its FM channels ran into rough weather, when private players bid heavily and most could not meet their commitments to pay the governments the amounts they had expected.
News in not permitted on private FM, although the federal minister says this may be reconsidered in two to three years. Nationally, many of the current FM players, including the Times of India, Hindustan Times, Mid-Day, and BBC, are essentially newspaper chains or media, and they are already making a strong pitch for news on FM.
India’s new private FM channels could also change the advertising scenario. Traditionally, radio accounts for 7% to 8% of ad-spends around the world. In India, it is less than 2% at present.
In FM Phase II — the latest round of the long-delayed opening up of private FM in India — some 338 frequencies were on offer. Of these, about 250 may be sold — around 25% of the frequencies are not finding any takers.
It has been reported that the government may go for rebidding of unsold frequencies quite soon, within three months (as of early, February 2006) according to one report.
Companies like Reliance and South Asia FM (Sun group) are bidding for almost all the cities, although they are allowed only 15% of the total allocated frequencies. In which case, Reliance will have surrender maybe as many as 30 frequencies.
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_broadcasting_in_India”
Categories: Wikify from April 2006 | Radio stations in India
If Radio Mirchi wants to stay in Karnataka, first of all it should broadcast
kannada film songs in all its programmkes to make it listenable- otherwise only announcements in Kannada is not worthwhile to listen and we can switch off the radio!
I agree with the substance of the petition but cant sign because I am not a resident of Bangalore. Hindi is a beautiful language but then it is only common sense that there should be more an active sense of contribution by the media to the local culture and certainly more than the lip service which smacks of a total lack of sensitivity and courtesy.
Hello,
Kannada Rakshana Vedike is having protest against antikannada attitude of FM stations in Bangalore ( Radio Mirchi and Radio City) in front of Radiomirchi station in Indira Nagar on 7th June at 11 AM.
Fwd this info to al Kannada groups and ask all Kannadigas to be there on 7th june to make it success
kumar
Radio Mirchi is really a Hindi MIrchi for Kannadigas.It should have been “Sakkath Kharadha Menasinakayi”.That means it will reach the local public only if it broadcast KANNADA songs and merely announcing rubbish kannda announcements will not last long.We request all the advertisers on Radio Mirchio to stop giving advertisement if Radio Mirchi does not broadcast Kannada Film songs at least 12 hours a day.Let it compete with Radio ci9ty’s Maalige Circle or Chow chow bath or with FM stations of Akashavani who broadcasts very good kannada programmes of more than 50% of their broadcasting time.Then only Radio MIrchi will survive- otherwise it will
MareMaachi [go away] from local support.
its fare .
when you living in India .
you should know Hindi.
Banglore is a part of country not that ki India is a part of That lukha Banglore…
So if u dont want to listen hindi switch to other bakad bakad Kannad Channels,why are you blamming the channels.
its ok and please remember you are not 80% in city its your foolishness as you are saying like that.
most of people in Bangi r North ibdian and speak Hindi,mostly students who runs colleges of Banglore(Industry) by their own money given in donation.
so no hindi no syudent no money
banglore will get #$%^$
Restrict migrants from other states. Boot out malayalis from karnataka whose population is increasing hour by hour, they are more dangerous than cancer. They are snatching away our land, jobs in government, IT-BT.
Bangalore ಬದಲು Bengaluru ಅಂತ ಕರೆದರೆ ಬಹಳ ಸೂಕ್ತ. ಬೇರೆ ರಾಜ್ಯದವರನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ ಕಲಿಯಬೇಕು, ಅವರವರ ಪೇಟೆಗಳ ಹೆಸರನ್ನ ಎಷ್ಟು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಎಷ್ಟು ಬೇಗ ಮರು ನಾಮಕರಣ ಮಾಡಿದರು. ನಮ್ಮ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಹೆಸರನ್ನ ಮರು ನಾಮಕರಣ ಅಲ್ಲ ಸರಿಪದಿಪದಿಸೋಕು ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ಇಲ್ಲ ನಮಗೆ. ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರೇ Bangalore ಅಂತ ಕರೆದರೆ ಕನ್ನಡೇತರರಿಗೆ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ಇರುತ್ತಾ?
@Proud Kannadiga, NRIs need to return back to India