Two people were killed and three others were injured when police opened fire in Bengaluru as the Cauvery water dispute took a violent turn on Monday after the Supreme Court directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water from the river to Tamil Nadu till September 20. The court had on September 5 ordered the state to release 15,000 cusecs a day. By late afternoon, the country's IT capital was shut down amid fears of violence and arson, stoked by social media posts and local TV channels showing photographs of scores of blazing vehicles and reports of an attack on a Kannadiga-owned hotel in Chennai.
The attack on the hotel took place in the early hours of Monday as a mob belonging to a pro-Tamil outfit hurled six petrol bombs at the New Woodlands Hotel on Dr Radhakrishnan Salai in Chennai. Within hours, at least 60 buses and trucks bearing Tamil Nadu registration numbers were set on fire in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya, Chitradurga and Dharwad districts and their crew beaten up. Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara threw up his hands, saying, “We can't provide protection to every vehicle on the road. The protest over Cauvery dispute taking a violent turn is unfortunate.” Soon, mobs took over the streets in western and southern parts of Bengaluru, indulging in arson and rioting while cops helplessly appealed for peace from their Twitter handles.
As the rumour mills spread panic, schools and colleges shut down, sending thousands of children and youths on the streets. Several IT companies allowed their employees to leave early and provided them transport.
In the evening, Bengaluru police commissioner imposed Section 144, prohibiting assembly of five or more people for the next three days. The Centre has sought a report on the situation from the state government, even as chief minister Siddaramaiah dashed off a letter to Union home minister Rajnath Singh seeking paramilitary forces. Monday had dawned peacefully on the city after an extended weekend but soon, TV news channels began beaming reports of violence targeting Kannadigas in Tamil Nadu. The reports went viral on social media and Bengaluru witnessed the day's first arson when a truck was torched on Nice Road near Electronic City.
Chennai police have arrested four members of the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) for the arson attack on the hotel. A police officer said, “There are active TPDK workers in Royapettah. They had earlier attacked a post office and were involved in cutting the sacred thread of Brahmins in Mylapore.”
Incidents of looting and vandalism eased on Tuesday after authorities imposed a curfew in the troubled parts of Bangalore. The curfew was imposed after rampaging mobs set fire to dozens of buses, trucks and cars and attacked shops and businesses in Bangalore and some other parts of the state, police said. The Cauvery River, which originates in Karnataka and flows into Tamil Nadu, has been the source of a bitter water dispute for decades. Karnataka officials told the Supreme Court that the state did not have enough water reserves to share.
In the city of Mandya, 100 km southeast of Bangalore, protesters set fire to trucks and buses bearing Tamil Nadu licence plates. Karnataka authorities have stopped bus services to Tamil Nadu for an unspecified period of time to prevent passengers from being attacked.
Ash Pillai, visiting UK on work told Asian Voice, “I am due to return to Bangalore on Wednesday. I fear for my safety. I am half Tamil and have worked in Bangalore for years. This has come to me as a shock.”
Madhan Iyer, a UK doctor told Asian Voice, “My cousins live in Bangalore. I really fear for their lives. One of them studies near Hosur and reached home close to midnight after morning college, due to the widespread violence.”
Akshay Jagannathan, a lawyer in the UK told Asian Voice: “Every time I go to my hometown in Salem, I get off at Bangalore and drive through Karnataka. This makes me fear for my life. May be I will avoid Karnataka altogether from now!”
Dinesh Raghavandra, who is in software profession in the UK told Asian Voice, “I am Tamil and born in Bangalore. So is my dad and my grand dad. I am as much Tamil as a Kannadiga. These kind of issues in Karnataka, over just river water, makes me question my identity. How can people turn violent towards his own countrymen? This is unnatural."
