India, June 14 -- Recent events underscore how language is becoming a flashpoint. From pro-Kannada protests over shop signage to actor Kamal Haasan's factually incorrect claim that "Kannada was born from Tamil," linguistic tensions are simmering.

Imagine the uproar if a Kannada actor went to Tamil Nadu and claimed the reverse. A riot would not be far-fetched.

Language isn't just a tool of communication. It's culture, identity and above all, cohesion.

In Karnataka, that glue is Kannada, and unless we act swiftly to promote spoken Kannada, especially in our cosmopolitan urban centres, we risk unravelling the social fabric that has long held our diverse State together.

The question now is: Are we doing enough to promote our own language?...