‘This is India, I'll speak Hindi, not Kannada': Karnataka SBI staffer sparks language row; CM Siddaramaiah calls remark 'strongly condemnable'
NEW DELHI: A State Bank of India official's refusal to speak Kannada during an interaction with a customer at the Surya Nagar branch in Anekal Taluk has triggered a fresh language row in Karnataka.
A video of the confrontation, now widely circulated on social media, shows the woman officer repeatedly declining to speak the state's official language despite persistent requests from a customer.
In the video, the customer is heard saying, 'This is Karnataka, madam,' to which the officer replies, 'This is India.' When told to speak Kannada, she asserts, 'I will not speak Kannada for you… I will speak Hindi.'
As the exchange intensifies, she walks away after saying, 'I will never speak Kannada.'
Clips of the incident went viral on social media, with users tagging the Union Finance minister and the Reserve Bank of India, accusing the staffer of imposing Hindi, misbehaving with customers, and ignoring RBI guidelines.
One user claimed the woman was 'disrespecting the Kannada language' and demanded immediate action.
In a video shared later, the SBI officer is seen issuing an apology in Kannada with the help of a colleague, saying, 'If I have hurt anyone, I sincerely apologise.
I will try to conduct business in Kannada going forward.'
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah also weighed in, calling the official's conduct 'strongly condemnable'.
In a post on X, he wrote, 'The behaviour of the SBI Branch Manager in Surya Nagara, Anekal Taluk refusing to speak in Kannada and English and showing disregard to citizens is strongly condemnable.'
He acknowledged SBI's action of transferring the official and urged the Finance ministry to prevent recurrence. 'Such incidents must not recur. All bank employees must treat customers with dignity and make every effort to speak in the local language. I urge the Finance Ministry and the Department of Financial Services to mandate cultural and language sensitisation training for all bank staff across India,' he added.
'Respecting local language is respecting the people.'
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