Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa’s Outrage Over Student’s Kannada Comment Sparks Controversy | Bengaluru News – Times of India

BENGALURU: Seemingly offended by a boy’s utterance that the education minister “doesn’t know Kannada” during a virtual interaction, the minister ordered action against the student.

The incident took place at the launch of the state govt’s ambitious programme to provide free online coaching to 25,000 students from Karnataka taking CET, JEE, and NEET exams on Wednesday.
Minister for school education and literacy, Madhu Bangarappa, who has often been targeted by opposition parties for his poor knowledge of Kannada, initially appeared cool on hearing the boy’s remark but soon flew into a rage.
“Am I speaking in Urdu? Switch on the TV and see,” he initially said. Later, he said, “Whoever said I don’t know Kannada, record it and take action against him. This is very stupid. Who are the teachers? This has to be taken up seriously.”
The minister told principal secretary (school education) Ritesh Kumar and PU department director Sindhu Roopesh, who were seated beside him at the venue from where he was interacting with the students from across Karnataka, to take action against the student.
Senior education officials declined to react to queries whether they have identified the student and initiated any action against him. Some said it was not clear from the audio if the remark was made by a student or an official.
The minister’s direction to take action was picked up by BJP which slammed him for not taking criticism in right spirit. BJP Karnataka, in its official handle on X, quoted a Kannada proverb: “Iddadanna Idda Haage Helidre Eddu Bandu Eddge Odrante (Telling someone the truth is akin to kicking him/her in the chest). This literally applies to our uneducated minister Madhu Bangarappa.”
“Madhu Bangarappa himself had revealed earlier that he does not know Kannada much. Today when the same was reminded by a student, he ordered severe action against the student, his teachers and BEO. This is the height of stupidity. This kind of dictatorial attitude of Congressmen is dangerous for democracy,” the party posted.
BJP MLA from Vijayapura, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, said on X: “It is known to the state that the education minister does not speak Kannada… The minister should learn to speak, write, read, and communicate in Kannada clearly. Constructive criticism from both students and journalists should be accepted. In a democracy, everyone, including students, has freedom of speech.”