context,
here is a brief background to what led to
the daylong fast. The Rs.13.3 billion Hogenekkal
Water Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation Project,
funded by the Japan Bank of International
Cooperation (JBIC), is expected to benefit
about three million people in Dharmapuri,
about 350 km from here, and Krishnagiri
districts of Tamil Nadu. Karnataka, which
is headed for assembly polls next month,
is opposed to the project and says its share
of the Cauvery waters will be affected.
Rajini: Karnataka needs to be given
a kick
At the daylong fast protesting attacks on
Tamil movie theatres in Karnataka over the
Hogenakkal issue, Rajinikanth spoke angrily.
It was long ago decided by the Central government
that Hogenakkal belonged to Tamilnadu, and
yet Karnataka seems to pretend otherwise.
“Should we or should we not give Karnataka
a good kick for not letting us draw water
from our own land?!” bellowed the
Superstar.. Law and order itself seems to
be in chaos in Karnataka, felt the Superstar.
“I unequivocally condemn Karnataka
for this reprehensible act of denying us
what is rightfully ours," Rajnikanth
said. He sternly warned politicians in Karnataka
not to use this issue to gain political
ground. The film icon warned Karnataka politicians
against using the issue for narrow political
gains during the ensuing assembly elections.
Kamal Haasan: Karnataka’s
responses and tactics are Primitive
As soon as Kamal arrived in Chennai, he
headed straight to the place of fast and
protest from the airport. Reaching the gathering
at two in the afternoon, Kamal said it felt
to him as though the whole Hogenakkal issue
was being settled in primitive ways. Long
ago, he reminded everyone, when our ancestors
lived by the river, they fought over river
water because there were no boundaries.
Today we have boundaries and yet in Karnataka
they don’t seem to really respect
it.
Sarath Kumar: Rajini will give 1
crore, we will give 10 crores
Wherever Tamils are in danger, said Sarath
Kumar, or are being harassed, we need to
intervene. He also reminded everyone that
Rajinikanth had once again said he would
donate a crore towards planning a project
that would find ways to bring water from
all the rivers. Now, the Tamil Actors Association
was willing to give 10 crores towards the
same project, to find a viable solution
to sharing these waters.
Vijaykanth: Our own waters are being
denied to us
"Our constitution and legal tomes,”
pointed out Vijaykanth, “have clearly
said that no one on earth can stop an ordinary
man's access to drinking water. And it is
not as though we are stealing Karnataka's
share of the water. The sad truth is that
we are being threatened against using our
water within our borders.”
Sathyaraj: Tamils are being victimized
everywhere
It happened in Mumbai, Malaysia and now
for the longest time in Sri Lanka, said
Sathyaraj. He was referring to the way Tamils
were being targeted as a minority group.
Now it is happening in Tamil Nadu. This
must stop at once
Tamil Film Fraternity’s resolution:
At the end of the protest and fast, the
Tamil cinema fraternity took a joint resolution,
assuring Karunanidhi that even if some of
them belonged to opposition parties, over
this issue at least they –the film
fraternity - will stand firm in their support
in the Chief Minister’s "fight
to achieve justice for the people of Tamilnadu.”
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