Backdoor tactics can't be tolerated: Kumaraswamy on 'Dahi' row

BENGALURU: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy has objected to the use of word 'dahi' being used on packets of Nandini curd sold in the State and that Hindi should not be imposed on a product manufactured in Karnataka.

HD Kumaraswamy said that "back-door tactics" of imposing Hindi cannot be accepted.

Kumaraswamy in a series of tweets said "Knowing that Kannadigas are against the imposition of Hindi, it is wrong for the Food Safety and Quality Authority of India to ask Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) to print Hindi 'dahi' on the Nandini Probiotic yoghurt pocket."

"Nandini is the asset of the Kannadigas, the identity of the Kannadigas and the lifeline of the Kannadigas. Despite knowing this, the ego of Hindi imposition has been shown. Earlier Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in a meeting in Mandya that he would merge Nandini with Gujarat's Amul. Is Hindi word typing the beginning of Nandini hijacking?," Kumaraswamy asked in his tweets.

Kumaraswamy also condemned Shah's statement, "I was against it. The BJP government, which was silent then, has now insulted the self-esteem of Kannadigas by adding curd to the back door through the Food Safety Authority. Is this a show of the BJP's power over Kannadigas?"

He also added, "It is a big mistake by KMF to print the word Dahi against the sentiments of six and a half crore Kannadigas."

This, the former chief minister said has not gone unnoticed by the state BJP government. "... Here Hindi is directly imposed, not through the back door. It has been quietly accepted by the double-engine BJP government and its puppet KMF. This is anti-Kannada work. Dahi pada printing should be stopped immediately," the JD(S) leader tweeted.

"JanataDal secular activists drew my attention to the matter by garlanding curd and milk saying 'Save Nandini' during the Pancharat Rath Yatra in Yashwantpur", Kumaraswamy said.