Bengaluru: Kaushik Mukherjee, based in Bengaluru, says his company will close its office in the city over the next six months. It will move to Pune in Maharashtra. According to Mukherjee, the decision, taken on May 22, 2025, is related to increasing issues around Kannada in Karnataka. The action sparked a heated argument online, raising questions about language inclusion within Bengaluru’s tech community.
Mukherjee, the founder of a tech company, said that the move was caused by worries raised by his employees who did not speak Kannada. This was after finding the city’s environment for non-Kannada speakers uncomfortable. He wrote on X, “We have chosen to shut our Bangalore offices in the next six months and open one in Pune instead.” If we keep discussing language in this manner, I do not want anything to happen to my staff who do not speak Kannada. The staff member proposed the idea, and I believed it was worth supporting.
The move comes after a manager at SBI Suryanagar in Bengaluru’s Chandapura refused to talk in Kannada with a customer, insisting she use Hindi instead. The video showing the manager saying he would never use Kannada went viral. When the actor said, “Show me the rules,” local Kannada supporters were furious because they believed it disrespected their language and customs. Following the transfer, both the person in charge and the bank said they were sorry.
Employee Problems and Business Reaction
Mukherjee says the relocation decision came from his team, and some told him they were uncomfortable and did not speak Kannada. He said his staff were worried about rising tensions over the language, and he knew he had to prioritise their safety. Experts say the move also represents non-Kannada professionals’ concerns, who are often drawn to Bengaluru from other parts of India.
Various people have reacted differently to the tech founder’s decision. Certain commenters on the internet echoed his opinion, recalling, for example, a Bengaluru techie who was refused parking for using Hindi. Some critics said that it is reasonable for anyone working and living in Karnataka to know the Kannada language. One user of X said, “Even though you earn profits in Karnataka, you never learn the local language.” It wasn’t a very nice thing to do. A different suggestion from an employee reading about this job was, “Since Pune is in Maharashtra, you should move while your non-Marathi staff members learn that language.”
Political and social results
Mukherjee’s declaration came after the SBI incident which caused sharp reactions from political leaders. Siddaramaiah, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, criticised the manager and urged nationwide training on cultural and language sensitivity for bank employees. Later, he said that the matter was handled when the manager was transferred. Tejasvi Surya from the BJP called the behaviour unacceptable and urged that all customer-facing jobs in Karnataka require Kannada fluency.
While Kannada groups protested at SBI demanding stronger rules for the accused, no police complaint was submitted. This case is linked to other language-related issues in Bengaluru, including a recent controversy over a shop’s sign saying Hindi was an official language and a social media post by a tech employee underlining Hindi use in business.
How Bengaluru is Affected
Diverse workforce membership in Bengaluru makes it like India’s Silicon Valley, thanks to those with different language experience contributing to its tech growth. Yet, repeated fights over the language have raised questions about city inclusiveness. Recently, a Google software engineer named Arpit Bhayani argued that English should be made a mandatory language in India to minimise clashes since it is widely used in both schools and businesses.
Because of Mukherjee’s choice, people are now adding thinly veiled references to the effect businesses leaving Bengaluru may have on the economy. Certain X users jokingly added, “It’s about time they left.” Many thanks for contributing to the effort to decongest our city.” Some pointed out that continued language tension could lead to many startups and MSMEs fleeing, which could reduce Karnataka’s role as a technology and innovation hub.