BENGALURU:
Pro-Kannada outfits that had earlier called for an April 12 bandh on Monday decided to postpone it in the backdrop of the Supreme Court (SC) directions.
Kannada Okkoota leader
Vatal Nagaraj, who was leading the agitation, told TOI: “The SC has neither asked the Centre to form or not form the Cauvery Management Board (CMB). Since the court has asked the Centre and the states to detail what their plans are on May 3, we have decided to postpone the bandh until then.”
He said that the date of the bandh, if there is a need based on what the SC says on May 3, will be decided after a meeting on that day.
Nagaraj, however, said that they have urged film exhibitors and distributors to ban movies of Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, both of whom have been vocal about the river dispute in the last week.
“They are starting their own political parties there and are trying to politicise the Cauvery issue to gain traction. Both of them owe a lot of their success to
Karnataka and should not indulge in what they are doing. Therefore, we’ve decided to not allow screening of their movies here and are confident that the industry will support us,” Nagaraj said.
He further added that the Kannada Okkoota has invited the chief minister and the deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu to come meet with the Karnataka chief minister and officials and sort out the issue rather than politicising it and inciting hatred among people.
“During the time of Veerendra Patil (former Karnataka CM), TN (former) chief minister K Karunanidhi had several discussions which resulted in amicable solutions. For some reason the present government is unwilling to do that,” he said.
FILE: Vatal Nagaraj. TOI Photo
