A native of Muzaffarpur, Bihar, Nitesh Yadav who was working at a food stand in Bengaluru complained that the locals were abusing him because of the language barrier. His inability to speak in Kannada allegedly led to his harassment, mockery, and even threats from the community.
“I am from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur and I work at a food stall in Bengaluru. The people who come to our stall have a major problem with the Hindi-speaking people. What do they think of themselves? Will they kill us? Everybody abuses and belittles us, without even showing mercy. I request the government to do justice to the Hindi-speaking people in Karnataka,” he can be seen stating in the viral video.
The youth also used some abusive language in the video. He claimed that three people who came to the eatery in Rajajinagar, where he works, and abused him for being a Bihari and not knowing Kannada.
Shameful incident of racism coming out from Karnataka. Man of Bihar exposing the xenophobia of locals.
— BALA (@erbmjha) April 12, 2023
Such mentality must not be accepted in 21st century India. All of India is for all Indians. Very heartbreaking to see such videos. pic.twitter.com/RjNXNK1QCK
“A few people came to eat food and I served all of them. I work hard to make ends meet and all I receive is abuse and hate. What is a Hindi-speaking man to these people? Is being Bihari a crime? Do we not belong to this country? I challenge, come and kill me now. I am ready,” the man was screaming in the video which was shot in front of his eatery in Rajajinagar and uploaded on his Facebook profile.
The incident took place on April 7, according to the police. However, the police said that it was an argument over a ‘torn currency note’ and ‘bad food’, and the youth deliberately made it a language issue. The customers gave the young guy called Nitesh Kumar Yadav a currency note that was reportedly ripped, and this caused an altercation between them, police said.
According to police, preliminary investigation shows that this turned into a big issue as the youth did not understand Kannada and the customers didn’t understand Hindi. “He intentionally turned this into a language issue by shouting in the middle of the road. We have learnt that he has returned home. No one has filed any complaint, so far,” the police remarked. The incident took place in April 7, according to Subramanyanagar police station officers.
Talking to The Indian Express, a police official said, “This was never actually a language row. There was a communication gap between the ladies and Yadav. We learnt that the ladies had visited the hotel and had ordered a rice item. However, they did not like the food and they paid the man with a torn Rs 100 note. A war of words ensued after he did not accept the money. In the heated argument, the Bihar man did not understand Kannada and the ladies did not understand Hindi.” The police officer further claimed that Yadav intentionally turned into a language issue.
The police also said that no complaint has been filed by anyone in this regard.
Responding to this issue, Bengaluru police commissioner, CH Pratap Reddy said, “The person has been identified by our North Division police. Prima facie it appears that there was an argument between the youth and the customers in the eatery. The inquiry has begun. Since the youth has returned to his hometown, we are collecting more details from him and action will be initiated.”
#WATCH | The incident allegedly happened around April 7, when he was working at a restaurant, where he had an altercation with a customer who only knew Kannada. He has returned to Bihar: CP Bengaluru Pratap Reddy on man from Bihar allegedly harassed for not knowing Kannada pic.twitter.com/Owa8XqjIrZ
— ANI (@ANI) April 13, 2023
The senior officer further advised the locals to refrain from posting about any similar instances on social media and instead call 122 to report them. “If anyone dials 112 in trouble, within 30 minutes our teams will reach the spot. If the issue is not resolved, then people can opt to reach out through social media,” he conveyed.
“Bengaluru is a cosmopolitan city and mutual respect should be there between people from all regions,” he added.
