Kamal Haasan's comments invited sharp criticism in Karnataka.
The incident occurred during a live concert on April 25 at a college in Bengaluru. Nigam paused his performance when someone from the audience loudly demanded that he sing in Kannada. Frustrated by the repeated shouts of "Kannada, Kannada," the singer responded sharply from the stage.
Actor Kamal Haasan has sparked outrage in Karnataka after he said "Tamil gave birth to Kannada" at an event in Chennai. Pro-Kannada groups have staged protests across the state, demanding an apology from the actor. They have also threatened to disrupt screenings of his upcoming film "Thug Life" in Karnataka. The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce is also set to discuss a possible ban on the actor.
Bus services between Karnataka and Maharashtra have been suspended following attacks on buses and their crew. The decision was taken given the tension prevailing in the border district of Belagavi over a sensitive issue. The language row began after a group of people allegedly intercepted a KSRTC bus and assaulted its conductor and driver for not speaking to a passenger in Marathi. The passenger, a minor girl, also filed a complaint stating that the conductor misbehaved with her. However, the family of the minor girl has decided to withdraw the case and urged people to stop escalating the matter into a language dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra.
'It is Maharashtra that started this fire.' 'Suddenly, out of nowhere, they started talking about the border dispute being sub judice and they started talking about meeting the people in Belagavi who want to break up our state.'
The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (Narayana Gowda faction) on Wednesday targeted business establishments in Bengaluru and damaged their signboards and name plates which did not use Kannada.
A local leader of Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction confirmed they painted the buses.
'Such steps would be a barrier and something people do not want.'
Activists of the Swarajya Sanghatana on Wednesday smeared black paint on the signboard of Karnataka Bank at its branch in Nashik city of Maharashtra amid a simmering border dispute between the two states.
The Belagavi administration has banned three Maharashtra ministers and an MP from entering this border district, as they are expected to participate in the "black day" event organised by Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) on November 1, on the occasion of Karnataka formation day.
Members of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike disrupted an examination being held for the post of railway ticket collector at Mysore on Sunday. The Vedike members alleged that over 60 per cent of the candidates were from non-Karnataka cadre.The members of the Vedike stormed into the examination centre, assaulted the staff, tore up question papers and demanded that the examination be stopped immediately.
Protests by local Kannadiga groups, against the participation of candidates from other states for the recruitment of 4,700 'D' group employees of Railways, spread to different parts of the state on Wednesday.
Pro-Kannada groups have called off plans to disrupt the release of Tamil superstar Rajnikanth's new film Kuselan in Karnataka after the actor expressed regret over a remark he made on the Hogenakkal row.
Karnataka will shut down on April 10 to protest against the Hogenekal water project issue. A dawn to dusk bandh will be observed across the state, to urge Tamil Nadu against going ahead with the water project at Hogenekal, which is on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border.The Vedike is also planning a procession in Kollegal taluk in Karnataka to create awareness about the issue. The Vedike members have also decided to stage a day-long protest in Hogenekal.
The decision to defer the recruitment process was in response to a request by the Home Department. Activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike had started an agitation on January 3, when the recruitment process began in Hubli, Bangalore and Mysore, alleging that Kannadiga youth had got a raw deal in the recruitment, as a majority of candidates came from Bihar, Jharkhand and other states. The Railways had rejected the allegation of the Vedike.
A similar case is still pending before a court in Mysore. The case is expected to come up for hearing shortly.
Sivaji release may face problems in Karnataka with some pro-Kannada organisations calling for a ban on Tamil films.
Eleven villages in Akkalkot tehsil of Maharashtra's Solapur district have asked the district administration to provide them basic facilities or grant them permission to merge with adjoining Karnataka.
Farmers organisations and pro-Kannada organisations staged protests in Mysuru, Mandya, Bengaluru and other parts expressing their anger and urging the state government not to release water to Tamil Nadu.
The protests, which erupted after the Supreme Court refused to interfere with orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee directing the state to release 5,000 cusecs of water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu, have intensified.
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Karnataka and Maharashtra have bickered over a disputed border for more than half a century.
The woman, identified as Amulya Leona, asked people to shout with her 'Pakistan Zindabad' thrice after the organisers of the event under the banner of 'Save Constitution' invited her to address the gathering soon after Owaisi came on the stage.
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