Bengaluru: What led to the violent protests? Is it the video of an engineering student being thrashed by pro-Kannada activists in Girinagar for his Facebook post or is it the video of a Kannadiga being thrashed in Rameshwaram and the footage from Chennai of a hotel run by a Kannadiga being attacked with petrol bombs and Karnataka registration vehicles being vandalised?
Sources claimed that users of social networking platforms had to be largely blamed for the violence as their posts had a vitiating effect, spreading hate between the two states.
An engineering student of a private college in Banashankari, Santosh, would never have thought that his Facebook post would garner so much attention that he would be beaten up by a group of pro-Kannada activists and made to apologise for his post. He had put up a post ridiculing Kannada actors and actresses for staging a protest on the Cauvery row on Friday. He was beaten up by the activists on Saturday. Kannada activists posted the video of his thrashing on Whatsapp and other social media sites which was picked up by Tamil news channels. The wide coverage given by these channels, claiming that a pro-Tamil student was assaulted by Kannada activists and that the police had failed to register a complaint, apparently led to violence in Rameshwaram and Chennai. The footage of a Kannadiga being thrashed in Rameshwaram where he is asked to repeat in Tamil that Cauvery belongs to Tamil Nadu and the other footage from Chennai of Karnataka vehicles being vandalised parked before Woodlands Hotel, run by a Kannadiga, where a petrol bomb was hurled on Monday too went viral.
Kannada channels started playing up the two sets of footage which were taken note of by pro-Kannada leaders, who sternly warned Tamil Nadu that a large number of Tamilians lived in Karnataka and they could be targeted if attacks continued on Kannadigas in Tamil Nadu.
The message was loud and clear and soon, the activists went on the rampage in Bengaluru, targeting Tamil Nadu registration vehicles, vandalising them and setting them on fire. Out of panic, lorry drivers were seen scratching off the “TN” part of their number plates and painting “KL” over it, for their safety.
Violence shook up even Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who shot off a letter to his counterpart J. Jayalalithaa, stating that the incident involving Santosh had been blown out of proportion by media channels in Tamil Nadu and it was likely inciting passions and violence against Kannada-speaking people. He stated that the police had filed a case and investigations were underway. The police maintained that on Monday, they arrested one Venkatesh who assaulted Santosh.
People on way home for Onam, Bakrid, stranded
Thousands of passengers heading home to celebrate Onam and Bakrid were left stranded as the KSRTC pulled back its services in response to the growing violence over the Cauvery dispute on Monday.
Besides those making their way to their homes in various parts of Karnataka from the city for Bakrid, those heading to Kerala for Onam were also hugely inconvenienced as private buses too refused to operate. Said Mr. Kumar Gowda, a private bus operator "All the Kerala bound buses from Bengaluru go via Tamil Nadu. And so we had no choice but to cancel these services due to the ongoing tension.” Warning that the situation could continue till September 20, the last date for release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, he said passengers would have to depend either on flights or trains until then.
With trouble over the water dispute escalating the KSRTC withdrew its buses running to Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajnagar, Chennai and Madurai among other places. Its Kolar and Mysuru divisions also did not operate any schedules to Tamil Nadu , which responded in kind with its TNRTC also dropping its services to various parts of Karnataka.
