Bengaluru: The B.S. Yediyurappa-led BJP government’s decision decided to name a flyover in Bengaluru suburb Yelahanka after ‘Veer’ V.D. Savarkar has raised the hackles of pro-Kannada organisations. They are now asking that doesn’t Karnataka have its own freedom fighters or famous personalities to commemorate, and why someone like Savarkar is being imported.
“The BJP government is doing this only to create a controversy. Its main objective is to appease its political bosses. It does not have the interests of the state or the people’s sentiments in mind,” said Arun Javgal, a member of Kannada activist group Banavasi Balaga, who had been at the forefront of the ‘Namma Metro Hindi Beda’ campaign against the use of Hindi on metro station boards in Bengaluru.
“Why should infrastructure projects be named after people like Veer Savarkar and Syama Prasad Mookerjee? Our land has produced greats like Sir M. Visvesvaraya; what prompts these political parties to name projects after those who weren’t even remotely connected to our history or Kannada culture?” he questioned.
“A park in south Bengaluru is going to be named after Syama Prasad Mookerjee. It is as if they are doing this with a vengeance. All protests and opposition does not matter,” Javgal said.
