Bengaluru: Will the Karnataka government come under pressure and release the separate flag amid growing demand? Social activists and advoctaes have been demanding the state government to officially adopt a Karnataka state flag on Karnataka Rajyotsava on November 1. Bhimappa Gadad, a social worker and RTI activist based in Belagavi stated in a press conference held at Bengaluru Press Club that there would be ‘agitation’ if necessary actions were not initiated.
“If the government doesn’t decide, our next step is to take it to the streets and take appropriate legal steps,” Gadad said. Gadad, who previously filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Karnataka High Court in support of a state flag said the case was dismissed with the court holding that the matter was not within the court’s jurisdiction and did not fall within the frame of public interest jurisdiction.
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The activist explained that the nine-member expert committee was constituted, which favoured Karnataka having its flag. Gadad said, “It is disheartening to us that to seek the official Kannada flag, we had to approach the court,” Gadad told reporters on Wednesday. “It seems that the current government is anti-Kannada. We urge it to announce the official decision on November 1.”
Advocate Umapathi S, who appeared for Gadad in the PIL stated that demand for an official flag has persisted for nearly a decade. “The current flag (with yellow/red colours) neither has an official recognition nor is legally backed. The issue has been raised since 2014 but the government hasn’t given adequate response. Even the then advocate general in 2015 agreed that the decision to proclaim a state flag would not necessitate approval of the central government and it was not prohibited under any act,” said Umapathi.
In early 2018 the Congress-led government of Siddaramaiah approved a design of the state flag of yellow, white and red with the emblem at the centre as suggested by the committee. But, the proposal was not approved in 2019 as the central government did not provide permission for it.
Activists are now optimistic that the government will review the decision and get Karnataka its official flag in time for the state’s festivities.
