Pro-Kannada activist slams Infosys Bengaluru’s Onam celebrations, calling it a ‘threat to Kannada demography’

A pro-Kannada activist has expressed his opposition to Onam celebrations at the Infosys Bengaluru campus, calling it a “threat to Kannada demography”. The activist, under the name Kari Subbayya on the social media platform X, shared a video of the Onama dance being performed at the Infosys office in the Karnataka capital.

Screenshot of a video of Onam celebrations at Infosys Bengaluru(X/@KariSubbayya)

“This is Infosys Bengaluru. How can this be ignored any longer?” he asked on the social media platform, taking issue with Onam celebrations at the Bengaluru campus of IT giant Infosys.

Onam is a major annual festival celebrated mainly in the state of Kerala. Over the past few months, as the pro-Kannada movement has gained new momentum, several Kannadas have opposed Onam celebrations in Karnataka, calling them a threat to Kannada culture. Subbayya, one of them, pointed out the “particularly large influx of migrants from Kerala” in his controversial post.

“They will never remain silent and will definitely start injecting their culture, especially the large influx of KL migrants and their dependence and adherence to KAR, causing a big threat to the demography in Kannada,” he wrote in X.

Take a look at his post below:

Predictably, Subbayya’s stance proved extremely polarizing for X. His post garnered over half a million views.

While he found support on parts of the Internet, many others criticized him and questioned his promotion of regionalism.

“How do you know they are all from Kerala? They are just celebrating a holiday. It doesn’t mean anything. Just relax, have fun and celebrate each day. Isn’t this the essence of every culture?” wrote user X, Hari Pudipeddi.

“I really don’t understand you. What’s stopping the Kannadigas of Infosys from organizing a similar celebration for Ugadi? They’re probably already doing this. You’re just spreading hate here!” another said.

“So, do Infosys offices in Kerala and Tamil Nadu celebrate Dasara or Ugadi in the same way? No, right? So don’t use that logic! Why should we celebrate Kerala in the Karnataka office?” – User X objected.

This is not the first time that objections have been raised against Onam celebrations in Karnataka. Earlier this month, a Bengaluru woman slammed BigBasket for sending free flowers with her Onam order.

(Also read: Bengaluru woman slams BigBasket for sending free flowers to Onam)