As the Cauvery issue rages on, Bengaluru is hit by chaos. With mobs maniacally destroying public property and Kannada/Tamil families being cornered by the locals in both states, a peaceful agreement couldn’t come faster. But sadly, no such decisions are seen over the horizon as governments in both the states continue their silence and let the wars wage.
Although officials and ministers of the Siddharamiah government are trying to equivocate that the state finances and operations have come to no harm, loss of about rupees 25,000 crores is reported – a number that holds no less value for a developing nation such as India. Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India, has now become the Violence Valley of India with investors pulling out lamenting at the state of affairs in the city. It sure does make one wonder how strong of a foundation do our states carry that mobs can force their way to create havoc at the drop of a hat.
It all began with Tamil Nadu filing a petition for its rightful cusecs of water from Cauvery and Supreme Court asking Karnataka to let out the river to Tamil Nadu as agreed in the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) early on in August. But the lack of rainwater led to Karnataka disobeying the court of law, sparking off fights within the states. The animosity between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have now reached almost the point of civil war, threatening to disrupt the peace.
The catastrophic Cauvery memories of 1991, when violence lasted a month and thousands of Tamil families had to flee Bengaluru, and the subsequent flare-up in 2002, should have kept the Siddaramaiah government on high alert. Instead, as hooligans poured into the streets, his police stood down. As a CM of such a powerful state, sheltering many upcoming industries and the hub of start-ups, Siddharamiah somewhere failed to reign in the raging disorder but just kept pleading the Union Government to help him out.
Although it does make sense to bring in a third party to solve the mutual differences, we still cannot point fingers at the central government for not taking the matter into their hands. And even though the Supreme Court’s order came a little too late, Jayalalitha and Siddaramiah could have maybe done just enough to keep the protesters at bay. But when all is said and done, and the dust settles that is when the true wrath of the storm is understood.
