BENGALURU, 23 MAY

A Bengaluru-based tech entrepreneur has announced plans to close his company’s local office in the State and shift operations to Pune, citing concerns over "language intolerance." Kaushik Mukherjee, co-founder of the firm, revealed on X (formerly Twitter) that he will wind up the City office within six months, citing fears that non-Kannada speaking staff could become victims of regional bias. His decision follows a viral incident at an SBI branch in Chandapura, where a manager refused to speak Kannada to a customer, declaring, "I will never speak in Kannada. Show me the rules.". Mukherjee’s post received criticism online, with many suggesting he and his staff should have learned Kannada. One user remarked, "Earning profits in Karnataka but no effort to learn the language isn’t a good gesture." Others argued that learning basic phrases would ease the stay in Karnataka and that leaving Bengaluru was not a wise move.