Activists, who were part of a State-wide shutdown organised by the Kannada Okkoota, on Saturday disrupted Coffee Santhe, a philanthropic fair currently being organised by The Women’s Coffee Alliance-India (WCAI), the India chapter of the California-based The International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA), at Freedom Park in Bengaluru. According to organisers of the santhe, some activists came to the venue, shouted slogans, pulled down flex boards and standees, and slashed banners written in English. However, the police intervened and things returned to normal in about 20 minutes. “They came around 2 p.m. and insisted all stall-keepers speak in Kannada and started slashing down boards and flex boards in English. We tried to reason with them in Kannada saying it was a pan-India coffee fair organised to raise funds to help women and children belonging to coffee plantations and Karnataka is the largest beneficiary as the State grows 70% of India’s coffees,” said Poornima Jairaj, secretary, WCAI. While some shut down the outlets, some other stall managers quickly wrote boards in Kannada and hung them up to stop disruptions. “The entire ecosystem of India’s coffee industry is here at this fair. There are coffee people in Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Mumbai, and Karnataka. So many coffee entrepreneurs, who came up under the Atal Incubation Centres and are supported by the Coffee Board are here. Also, several FPOs (farmer producer organisations) and several farmers from Meghalaya Connect, a band of multiple FPOs, are also here,” said Ashwini Om, founder, Kalicoffee Roasters, a coffee roaster based in Mumbai. The police were immediately called into action and disruptors left the venue in 20 minutes, to come back after some time, but the police sent them off amicably, said the organisers. Varsha V. of Meghalaya Connect said, “The activists were so agitated as all our coffee standees were in English. As they rushed in, we turned away all standees.”