While the responsibility of constituting the Cauvery management board (CMB) rested with the Centre, the State government “cannot hallucinate” that it has fulfilled its duty towards the people by just filing a contempt petition before the Supreme Court or by holding a farcical one day hunger strike, Kamal Haasan, founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam said in Tiruchi on Wednesday.
Reading out a statement at a press conference Mr. Haasan, who is in Tiruchi to address a public meeting in the evening, accused the Tamil Nadu government of functioning like a “subservient government” to the Centre rather than uphold the State’s rights,
“We were hopeful that the Supreme Court order would be implemented in toto and the Centre will constitute the CMB within the deadline of six weeks. The court had unequivocally said that no extension will be granted under any grounds. But today, to our dismay we are witnessing a repeat of what happened in 2016,” he said. The actor-politician cited a September 2016 Supreme Court order 2016 directing the constitution of the CMB within a period of four weeks and the Centre’s failure to do so then “under the pretext of legal technicalities.”
The primary focus of the public meeting would be to bring to notice of the people the key issues of the Cauvery water dispute and also possible solutions.
Key policy guidelines
Mr. Haasan indicated that he would be stating the key policy guidelines of the party on important areas. It will be a precursor to the policy document that would be brought out by the party.
Answering a query on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Mr. Haasan said: “I think we don’t need to alter this right now.”
He denied that he was going soft on the Centre and toning down criticisms against it. Asked whether he would participate in the agitation called by the film industry on the Cauvery issue, Mr. Haasan quipped that the “cine world was his too.”
