In July 2017, several stations of Bengaluru Metro Rail came under attack, almost simultaneously. Kannada activists, mostly representing Karnataka Rakshana Vedika, sprayed black paint on the Hindi signage at the stations while shouting slogans against the imposition of Hindi. Soon after, the Metro authorities decided to be safe than sorry — restricting the names of the stations to English and Kannada.
Usually, such protests would be dismissed as an act of parochial Kannada organisations who do not have a larger worldview. They also tend to be taken over by rowdy elements, who use muscle power to get their point across. But this protest was unique. Its supporter base also included software professionals who were concerned about the Kannada language not being given its place of pride.
