Non-Kannadiga speakers rise in Bengaluru; city cops in trouble

BENGALURU: For Poorni Jayaram, a 25-year-old from Kerala employed in the city, registering a complaint with the police turned out to a bigger trauma than losing her bag. She had dropped it from a bus while on her way home and a tempo truck that passed by was happy to pick it up. Jayaram wrote a complaint in English at the HSR police station, noting the number of the thieving vehicle (KA 41 EA 1732). But when she received a copy of the case, she found the writer at the station had misunderstood her and stated that she had lost her bag.

Case writers in Bengaluru police stations are finding it difficult to understand complaints written in English, many of these filed mostly by the city's growing migrant population. Most writers are not educated beyond 12th standard. What's more, they are not taught English after recruitment, although it is supposed to be a part of their standard training.

While Bengaluru prides itself as a liberal, ethnically diverse city, with migrants accounting for nearly three-fourths the city's population, for settlers it is still a hassle dealing with employees at most government departments. On the other hand, although it is a growing movement, only a small percentage of the migrants make the effort to learn Kannada, resulting in linguistic clashes.

"I tried explaining to the writer that my bag with money and my mobile phone had been stolen, but he couldn't understand me," said Jayaram. "I have been to police station many times and police and the complainants face a lot of problems while registering a case," said Geeta Menon, a social activist working in the area of women's issues.

"They won't be knowing English or Hindi. And they harass complainants for not speaking in Kannada...Even if any illiterate goes to a police station, after taking the complaint orally the police should read it to the complainant." Senior police officials are aware of the problem. P Harishekaaran, ACP (Crime), said the department plans to organis soft skills programmes and classes in spoken English for constables. BS Lokesh Kumar, DCP (South), conceded constables often struggle when dealing with non-Kannadigas, especially ones who speak only English.