Forty-one Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) protestors who allegedly stormed a Parliamentary Committee on Official Language meeting at a city hotel on Friday have been remanded to judicial custody.
The police sources said 28 male and 13 female protesters were produced before the 1st Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Court, which ordered their remand.
KRV leader T.A. Narayana Gowda condemned the arrests, alleging that false cases had been filed against his organisation’s members. “Our members have been arrested illegally by booking fake cases. The government should immediately take steps to quash them and release everyone. If the government fails to act, we will launch a Statewide movement against this,” he warned.
Mr. Gowda stressed that the organisation would not be intimidated by cases or imprisonment, and openly threatened that any organisation or committee promoting Hindi in the State would face consequences.
His remarks came in the backdrop of a three-day conference of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language. On Thursday, KRV members allegedly barged into the Taj West End Hotel, where the conference was being held. According to police, on the final day of the meeting, which began at 9.30 a.m., over 40 KRV members entered the venue between 10.45 a.m. and 11 a.m., shouting slogans and objecting to the agenda.
A case has been registered at High Grounds Police Station under BNS sections related to criminal trespass and unlawful protest.
KRV spokesperson Arun Javagal told The Hindu that while some members were granted bail on Friday, others remain in judicial custody. “We received information that they were promoting Hindi, which prompted our protest,” he said.
The KRV has also demanded the abolition of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language and called for all languages in the country to be made official languages.
Published – September 26, 2025 07:55 pm IST
