The Mandya Zilla Raita Hitarakshana Samiti, which is contemplating stopping drinking water supply to Bangalore city, has sought the cooperation of non-Kannada speaking people, especially Tamils, across the State to express their solidarity in the Cauvery agitation.
The samiti, led by its president and former MP G. Made Gowda, has been staging a protest against releasing water to Tamil Nadu for the past 12 days near the Visvesvaraya statue, off the Bangalore-Mysore highway, here.
Though the samiti has been receiving tremendous support from all sections of society in Mandya, Mysore and Chamarajanagar, it feels that people in Bangalore are not extending their support to the ongoing agitation.
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The samiti, which is contemplating stopping drinking water supply to Bangalore, since the people in Bangalore have not joined the agitation, has urged non-Kannada-speaking people in Karnataka to participate in the protest.
“A large number of Tamil-speaking people are living in the State. Tamil-speaking people in Bangalore and Mysore, like any other residents in these districts, also depend on Cauvery water for their daily needs,” Mr. Gowda told
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“Tamil-speaking persons across the State should speak out and support Karnataka,” samiti’s organising secretary K.S. Nanjunde Gowda said.
Tamil-speaking people in Bangalore and in different parts of the State are willing to express their solidarity with the samiti’s ongoing agitation. However, the lack of a suitable platform is preventing them from doing so, the samiti leader said and added: “Tamil-speaking people need not hesitate to stage protests. We will respect and support them if they stage protests against the release of Cauvery waters from the State when the farmers here are reeling under severe drought.”
People from other States who reside in Karnataka should also voluntarily participate in the protests because they will also face a shortage of drinking water if water is released to Tamil Nadu, the samiti leader said.
The Samiti would approach leaders in Bangalore for discussions with non-Kannada associations to seek their support for the cause shortly, another leader said.