Cauvery issue: Violence in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu inspired by chauvinism, myopic politics, media

An armed confrontation between two Indian states, that too over water, may be unimaginable for many. But, on Quora, you would actually find people discussing the prospects of a war between the two rival states. Laughable it may sound, but it is a pointer to the venomous rivalry that exists between the two border states. The ongoing violence in Bengaluru over the Cauvery water dispute is just a reflection of the strained relations between the two states. Chauvinists on either side of the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border are always on a short fuse. Such is the nature of the Kannadiga-Tamil rivalry that violence can erupt even after a minor spark, sometimes even without it. In 2000, when Kannadiga superstar Rajkumar was kidnapped by Veerappan, violence broke out in Karnataka simply because the brigand happened to be a Tamil. For almost 75 days, while the actor remained in Veerappan's custody, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu remained on the edge, with sporadic violence threatening peace in both states. Considering the volatile nature of relations between the two states, the emotive issue of sharing of Cauvery waters was expected to trigger violence in the two states. Kannadigas are averse to sharing water from the Cauvery basin with their neighbouring states. So, the Supreme Court order directing the Siddaramaiah government to release 15,000 cusecs water (later revised to 12,000 cusecs) to Tamil Nadu was meant to create ripples in the two states.

The dispute over sharing of Cauvery water dates back to the 19th century. Several governments, court orders and arbitration panels have failed to resolve the row, primarily because the Kannadigas do not believe in the lower riparian rights of downstream states, especially during the low-monsoon years. As this article in The Wire argues, Karnataka has historical reasons to be upset about the quantum of water to be shared with neighbouring states. Girish Nikam writes that the Cholas built reservoirs and check dams in Tamil Nadu in the 10th century, while the rulers of Mysore built Krishna Raja Sagara, the first major reservoir, in 1934.

Karnataka's politics, where no party can afford to be seen compromising the riparian rights of Kannadigas, further contributed to the problem. At an all-party meeting in Karnataka to discuss the SC order on water sharing, even the BJP leaders argued that the order not be implemented. On cue, CM Siddaramaiah dispatched a missive to the Prime Minister, seeking the Centre's intervention and arguing that Tamil Nadu has enough water this season to address its needs. To this dangerous mix, the media and Twitterati have added more poison by spreading rumours, videos and inflammatory messages. Television channels in both the states, reports say, are playing up incidents of attacks on Kannadigas and Tamils, leading to retaliatory violence. According to The Indian Express, the fire was reignited on Monday by TV channels playing the regional card. Some television channels, on Monday, showed images of the Kannadiga-owned New Woodlands Hotel in Chennai being attacked with petrol bombs. The reports suggested that it was in retaliation to the attacks on Tamils. Images of a Kannadiga being beaten up by Tamil activists and buses being vandalised were also shown, the report added.

"We will also show them,” a statement made by Vatal Nagaraj, a veteran leader who exhorts Kannada chauvinism, only indicates "retaliatory incidents in Karnataka," The Indian Express reported. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are on the brink of another cycle of violence inspired by chauvinism, myopic politics and an irresponsible media, both conventional and social. Only by restraining all of them would this war between the two rivals would come to an end.

The Supreme Court will on Monday hear Karnataka’s plea to reduce the quantum of Cauvery water to be released to Tamil Nadu from 15,000 cusecs to 1,000 cusecs after violent protests on the sensitive issue paralysed life across the state. The urgent hearing on a holiday was scheduled after Karnataka’s plea seeking modification of the SC’s September 5 order to release 15,000 cusecs of water for 10 days as immediate relief to Tamil Nadu farmers was mentioned before the court’s registry. A bench of justice Dipak Misra and justice UU Lalit will sit to only hear the matter as the court is closed on Monday. The hearing was fixed after consulting the Chief Justice of India TS Thakur. Read: Cauvery dispute: Conflicts, gaps and institutional spaces for reconciliation The plea noted that Karnataka was facing “huge public pressure” and police prevented attempts to damage public property during recent statewide strikes with great difficulty. The application also referred to inputs from security agencies that said if the current flow of water was allowed to continue further, the situation “may go out of hand”. The hearing coincides with the Cauvery Supervisory Committee’s meeting to decide on the quantum of the river’s water to be released to Tamil Nadu and other states.

The Karnataka government has demanded that instead of 10 days, the top court should restrict the release of water to only six as the state was facing a distress situation due to massive protests that inflicted daily losses of Rs 500 crore. “Even the minimum arrangement mentioned by your lordships has caused distress and havoc in the entire southern part of Karnataka, paralysing civil life. The agitation of farmers has been that their dry crop is equaled with that of the farmers in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu’s need for the rice crop consumes more than twice the water which is needed for light crops in Karnataka,” it said. The application sought to emphasize that farmers in Mysuru, Hassan, Mandya and Bengaluru had been squatting on the roads and streets, adversely affecting the IT industry – a source of huge revenue by way of income tax, service tax, and foreign exchange of USD 60 billion. In its September 5 order, the top court had directed Tamil Nadu to approach Supervisory Committee, set up to implement the award of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, within three days for release of water as per the final order of the CWDT.

.Over 350 people have been arrested for vandalism in IT-hub Bengaluru, where buses were burnt and shops were damaged on Monday. 16 areas of the city are still under curfew. After violence, which may potentially create law and order problem, domestic airlines including national carrier Air India and private carriers - Indigo, Vistara, Jet Airways - announced on Tuesday that they would waive flight cancellation/ rescheduling changes for flights to Bengaluru for a specified period.

Two people died in police firing after cops opened fire on protesters in Bengaluru's Rajgopalnagar area on Monday evening. The protests have affected tech companies. Flipkart and Amazon said their operations had been impacted and TeamLease feared "mammoth losses". The streets were deserted all day on Tuesday. Buses were off the roads and resumed only in the evening. In tweets on Tuesday morning, the police warned people against rumours. "Please do not blindly believe in messages circulating on WhatsApp," said one tweet. "Bengaluru situation is totally calm, strict action will be taken against vandals/miscreants," said another. The Prime Minister has been asked by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to intervene. Earlier on Tuesday, PM Modi said the situation is "distressful" and added that breaking the law is not a "viable alternative" since it was causing loss to the poor. On Monday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa wrote to her Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah seeking protection and security for Tamil-speaking people and their properties after 30 buses from Tamil Nadu were set on fire by protesters. Fearing backlash, many Tamils were reportedly leaving Bengaluru.

Trouble resurfaced in the decades-old dispute over the Cauvery river, which flows through Karnataka into Tamil Nadu, after the Supreme Court last week asked Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of water to its neighbor The situation escalated on Monday after a court ruling indicated that Karnataka has to yield more water than it was asked to last week. Karnataka says it does not have enough water for farming or drinking. But Tamil Nadu has told the court its farmers will face a huge crisis without more water. "The order is hard to follow but we'll still follow the Supreme Court order," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, urging people not to take law into their hands. He assured drinking water to Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya and villages of the Cauvery river basin till June next year. Cauvery Protests: Karnataka Situation 'Alarming', Jayalalithaa Writes To Siddaramaiah Describing the violence in Karnataka as "alarming", Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa wrote to her counterpart in the neighbouring state, Siddaramaiah, seeking protection to Tamil speaking people and their property, hours after he had made a similar plea to her. Expressing concern, she said "hotels and properties belonging to Tamils in Karnataka are being attacked and damaged. This is an alarming situation and is causing considerable anxiety." "I am concerned that the situation in Karnataka is serious with several instances of mob violence targeting Tamil speaking persons and their properties," she said in the letter. Amid reports of escalating violence in Karnataka over the Cauvery issue in which Tamil properties including buses were targeted, she sought action to ensure safety for them. As Rajan Departs, RBI Opens Door to Islamic Finance (The Week) EMAIL PRINT 18 COMMENTS

Cauvery Protests: Karnataka Situation 'Alarming', Jayalalithaa Writes To Siddaramaiah Cauvery Protests: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa wrote to her counterpart Siddaramaiah. CHENNAI: HIGHLIGHTS Jayalalithaa wrote to Siddaramaiah about protests over the cauvery issue She said she was concerned about the well being of Tamils in Karnataka She described the violence in Karnataka as 'alarming'; urged restraint Describing the violence in Karnataka as "alarming", Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa wrote to her counterpart in the neighbouring state, Siddaramaiah, seeking protection to Tamil speaking people and their property, hours after he had made a similar plea to her.

Expressing concern, she said "hotels and properties belonging to Tamils in Karnataka are being attacked and damaged. This is an alarming situation and is causing considerable anxiety." "I am concerned that the situation in Karnataka is serious with several instances of mob violence targeting Tamil speaking persons and their properties," she said in the letter.

Amid reports of escalating violence in Karnataka over the Cauvery issue in which Tamil properties including buses were targeted, she sought action to ensure safety for them. "I request you to take immediate and effective action to provide all necessary protection and security to ensure that no harm is caused to the person and property of Tamil speaking people in Karnataka," she said in her letter to Mr Siddaramaiah. She said, "the violence has escalated and a large number of vehicles, including more than 40 buses, 45 lorries and many other vehicles bearing Tamil Nadu number plates have been burnt and damaged." Cauvery Protests: Karnataka Situation 'Alarming', Jayalalithaa Writes To Siddaramaiah All India | Press Trust of India | Updated: September 13, 2016 08:32 IST

by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Experts shocked, as new trick saves online shoppers thousands in India (Madbid.com) As Rajan Departs, RBI Opens Door to Islamic Finance (The Week) EMAIL PRINT 18 COMMENTS Cauvery Protests: Karnataka Situation 'Alarming', Jayalalithaa Writes To Siddaramaiah Cauvery Protests: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa wrote to her counterpart Siddaramaiah. CHENNAI: HIGHLIGHTS Jayalalithaa wrote to Siddaramaiah about protests over the cauvery issue She said she was concerned about the well being of Tamils in Karnataka She described the violence in Karnataka as 'alarming'; urged restraint Describing the violence in Karnataka as "alarming", Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa wrote to her counterpart in the neighbouring state, Siddaramaiah, seeking protection to Tamil speaking people and their property, hours after he had made a similar plea to her. Expressing concern, she said "hotels and properties belonging to Tamils in Karnataka are being attacked and damaged. This is an alarming situation and is causing considerable anxiety." "I am concerned that the situation in Karnataka is serious with several instances of mob violence targeting Tamil speaking persons and their properties," she said in the letter. Amid reports of escalating violence in Karnataka over the Cauvery issue in which Tamil properties including buses were targeted, she sought action to ensure safety for them. "I request you to take immediate and effective action to provide all necessary protection and security to ensure that no harm is caused to the person and property of Tamil speaking people in Karnataka," she said in her letter to Mr Siddaramaiah. She said, "the violence has escalated and a large number of vehicles, including more than 40 buses, 45 lorries and many other vehicles bearing Tamil Nadu number plates have been burnt and damaged." Stating that groups of protesters from Karnataka were regularly assembling at the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border near Hosur, she said they were threatening vehicles and commuters from Tamil Nadu. Ms Jayalalithaa said she was writing to bring to Mr Siddaramaiah's "urgent attention" the need to ensure the safety and security of many lakhs of Tamil speaking people residing in Karnataka and of their properties in the light of the escalating incidents of violence. Referring to his letter, regarding "certain incidents," in Tamil Nadu, she said "despite very provocative incidents that are taking place in Karnataka, absolute restraint has been observed in Tamil Nadu by all sections. We have ensured that no major incidents of any kind targeting Kannada speaking people or their properties have occurred." Referring to the two incidents in Chennai and Ramanathapuram that was flagged by Karnataka, she said these were minor adding action was taken very promptly, cases registered and miscreants arrested. "In any event, all precautionary measures have been taken and law and order continues to be well maintained in Tamil Nadu," she said. "The protests by some sections in Tamil Nadu, including by farmers, have been peaceful and lawful." She said the Tamil Nadu DGP was instructed to ensure that law and order is maintained and adequate protection provided to all Kannada speaking people and their properties in Tamil Nadu. The DGP was instructed as soon as the directions of the Supreme Court on the Cauvery issue were received on Septemeber 6 and following telecast of violent protests in Karnataka by the media, Ms Jayalalithaa said.