Siddaramaiah urges Kerala CM to drop Malayalam language bill, says it hurts Kannadiga interests

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday urged his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan to immediately withdraw the Malayalam Language Bill-2025 passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly insisting that it would hurt Kannadigas living in border Kasargod district.

“Kerala government's proposed Malayalam Language Bill-2025, which mandates the learning of Malayalam as the first language in Kannada-medium schools in Kerala, is an assault on the constitutional guarantee of linguistic freedom,” Siddaramaiah said in a post in X.

If such a law is implemented, Kannadigas living mainly in the border districts of Kerala, particularly in Kasaragod, will be deprived of the opportunity to learn their mother tongue. We did not expect such an action from the Kerala Communist government that suppresses the fundamental rights of linguistic minorities, he said.


Although Kasaragod administratively belongs to Kerala, emotionally it belongs to Karnataka. The people there are intertwined with the Kannada language, culture, and literature. They are no less Kannadigas than the Kannadigas of Karnataka. It is the duty of our government to protect their interests. Every citizen of India, which sees unity in diversity, has the freedom to learn in their mother tongue, the CM said.

For linguistic minorities, the mother tongue is not just a language; it is an identity that provides them with a life of dignity. It has been scientifically proven that children who learn in their mother tongue grasp subjects more easily. Imposing another language on them not only diminishes their learning capacity but also paves the way for the demise of an independent language, Siddaramaiah said.

“The people of Kasaragod have studied in Kannada medium for many generations and have continuously used Kannada in their daily lives. It is the unanimous opinion of the Kannadigas there that about 70 percent of the students in Kasaragod district want to learn Kannada language and in Kannada medium. No language stands against another language. India is the cradle of multilingualism, multiculturalism, and multi-religions. Any attempt to harm this pluralistic environment is dangerous.”

The Constitution, which we all respect, clearly states the matter of protecting the interests of minorities, including language. Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution grant the right to those living in any part of the country to preserve their language, script, and culture. It also gives them the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. Article 350(A) of the Constitution provides freedom to learn in the mother tongue at the primary level. Article 350(B) provides assurance for the protection of minorities. In this context, no government should attempt to trample the linguistic freedom of minorities, the CM said.

Just as we in Karnataka are working to promote the Kannada language, the state government there has full freedom to develop and preserve the Malayalam language in Kerala state. But an attempt to impose one language over another is unacceptable, Siddaramaiah added.

The Karnataka Border Area Development Authority (KBADA) has also pressed Kerala Governor RV Arlekar not to assent the Malayalam Language Bill, 2025, passed by the Kerala assembly in October.

The Authority has, in a statement, claimed that the Governor has promised to review the Bill after a delegation from the Authority submitted a memorandum and expressed its concerns in a meeting with the Governor on Wednesday. Kasargod has a significant number of Kannada speakers.

The delegation conveyed to the Governor that the Bill, if it becomes a law, would have far reaching consequences on the Kannada-speaking linguistic minorities in the border district.

The Bill, the Authority said, mandates Malayalam as the first language in government and private Kannada-medium schools in Kasargod district from class 1 to class 10.

The President of India had earlier rejected the Malayalam Language (Promotion and Enrichment) Bill of 2015. The present one, however, is awaiting the Governor’s assent.

Pinarayi Vijayan, speaking at the Malayalam language day on November 1, said his government was determined to make Malayalam the sole language in the administration.