NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday rapped the governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for their failure to stop large-scale violence after its verdict on sharing of the Cauvery river water. The court made it clear that the verdict has to be complied with and violent agitation would serve no purpose and suggested to the aggrieved parties to take free legal recourse. “We are compelled to state that it is the duty of both the states to see that no violence, agitation or destruction of properties takes place,” the court said.
Meanwhile, as the stir intensified in Bengaluru on Monday, miscreants began attacking a few residents in a locality on Kanakapura Road. According to a complaint registered by a family, miscreants taking part in the agitation allegedly barged into their house on Kanakapura road and molested a teenage girl. Based on the complaint, Subramanya police have arrested seven youngsters. Malathi (name changed) and her family, whose house is located in the neighbourhood said the youngsters barged into her house by breaking open their main door.
“Sensing trouble, I helped my two children up to the attic. However, my niece who was in the bathroom came out at that moment and one of the boys pulled her shawl,” she told Express. Humiliated by the incident, Malathi’s niece allegedly attempted suicide.
The Karnataka police managed to foil the rail-roko protest called by the agitators on Thursday. “About 100 pro-Kannada activists were arrested and prevented from indulging in the protest in Bengaluru,” officials said. “Farmer organisation leaders and activists were also arrested in Mysuru and Mandya.” The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation announced that it had resumed services to a few states, including Kerala, on Thursday.
Meanwhile in Tamil Nadu, traders have called for a statewide bandh on Friday. Most opposition parties and trade unions have extended support to the bandh, which is expected to impact normal life. Expressing his concerns over the bandh, Siddaramaiah has written again to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, seeking protection for Kannadigas in the State. “Any escalation of animosity would be to the collective detriment of both the states,” he said.