Bengaluru: With the protest against the release of water to Tamil Nadu turning violent, Tamil organisations in the state have expressed their solidarity with Karnataka on the river water dispute.
Representatives of Tamil outfits in Karnataka met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home minister Dr G. Parameshwar on Monday and requested the state government to prevent attack by miscreants on the Tamil population living here.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Bangalore Tamil Sangam president G. Damodaran said, “We have requested the state government to give protection to Tamilians residing here. We will also write to the government of Tamil Nadu to take action against miscreants who are attacking Kannadigas living in Tamil Nadu.”
He further said, “Vehicles bearing Tamil Nadu registration numbers worth over 100 crore were damaged, we request the state government to compensate for the loss.”
Mr N. Ramachandran, president of Kannada-Tamil Harmony and Social Welfare Trust said, "The fight is not against Kannadigas or Tamilians. An amicable solution should be found to the problem by both governments.” Mr Ramachandran further said that in the guise of Kannada outfits, miscreants were trying to disturb the harmony between Kannadigas and Tamils in the state which should be checked. “We have requested the government to beef up security in sensitive places,” he said.
Traffic thrown out of gear
Traffic was thrown out of gear on Mysurur Road on Monday morning after Kannada activists ran amok and targeted Tamil Nadu registration vehicles. Though additional police forces and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel were deployed, violence continued to spread across the city. Activists on motorbikes were seen riding on Mysuru Road threatening shopkeepers and forcing them to down shutters. Though policemen were posted at each junctions, they were easily outnumbered by the activists. Traffic movement from Kengeri till Town Hall was affected as violence spread from Kengeri, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Nayandahalli, Byatrayanapura, Mysore Road satellite bus stand and City Market.
Some TV channels may be blocked
Following a public outcry against news channels for their live coverage of violence in Bengaluru on Monday, the state government is expected to block a few channels if they do not mend their ways.
Senior government and police officials held talks with the Cable Operators’ Association on Monday afternoon. “TV channels have not acted in a responsible way. Live coverage and tone of the news coverage was inciting the mob. We received a lot of complaints on the way news was being telecast by the electronic media. If the situation continues on Tuesday too, a few channels will be blacked out,” said sources close to the development. Patrick Raju, President, Karnataka Cable TV Operators’ Association, told Deccan Chronicle that on Monday, Tamil news channels were blocked in the state as they continued to beam news about the attacks. “We sent a fax message to all the operators,” he said.
