Cauvery dispute: Tamilians provoking, assaulting Kannadigas, says Gowda

Bengaluru [India], Sept. 13 (ANI): Expressing his concern over the ongoing protests over the Cauvery water dispute, Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday said that the people of Karnataka should not be blamed as the people of Tamil Nadu are provoking and assaulting the Kannadigas. "I don't blame the people of Karnataka because we are the person that doesn't have water in spite we are giving water to Tamil Nadu. But the people of Tamil Nadu are provoking and assaulting the Kannadigas," Gowda told ANI. In spite of so magnanimous in giving water to them, they are doing all these mischievous acts. Certainly, this will provoke anybody," he added. Urged the people to maintain law and order in the state, the former Karnataka chief minister said incumbent Siddaramaiah-led government should have been fully prepared to tackle the situation following the outburst. Meanwhile, Karnataka's Law minister T.B. Jayachandra assured that a positive step will be to serve the interest of everyone and urged all to maintain law and order in the state. "The Supreme Court is the highest authority and in spite of Karnataka's appeal in various means to save water for drinking, the Supreme Court with harsh words rejected our application. The Supreme Court has also told that there should not be any provocation from both states and this is a critical time. Today the Cabinet is convened to discuss the various issue and legal issues to be discussed there and we will take all positive steps to save the interest of the Karnataka farmers," said Jayachandra. The central forces including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Railway Protection Force have been deployed to assist the city police to maintain law and order in Bengaluru. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday assured full assistance to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments to deal with the current state of violence. Describing the violence in Karnataka as "alarming", Siddaramaiah wrote to his Tamil Nadu counterpart J. Jayalalithaa to ensure that the perpetrators of the violence are immediately brought to book. Siddaramaiah appealed for peace and urged her to ensure the safety of Kannada speaking people living in the state and urged the Tamil Nadu authorities to take action against those indulging in violence. Jayalalithaa wrote back, saying Tamils in Karnataka were in greater danger than Kannadigas in Tamil Nadu. 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." One person was killed another injured in police firing in Bengaluru yesterday after the Supreme Court ordered Karnataka for release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. Violence rocked Bengaluru, as about 30 vehicles from Tamil Nadu were torched, prompting Siddaramaiah-led government to issue prohibitory orders in the IT city, besides shutting metro rail operations, schools, colleges and some offices. Retaliatory violence also erupted in Tamil Nadu as groups hurled bombs at Chennai's New Woodlands Hotel and attacked seven Karnataka buses in Rameswaram. About 15,000 cops were deployed across IT city with focus in areas where Tamils live in large numbers. Modifying its September 5 order, the Supreme Court yesterday asked the Karnataka Government to release 12,000 cusecs of Cauvery River water every day to Tamil Nadu till September 20. The apex court had earlier directed the Karnataka Government to release of 15,000 cusecs of water for 10 days as immediate relief to farmers in Tamil Nadu. (ANI)