Thiruvalluvar statue to see light of day after 18 years

Eighteen years after the installation of the statue of Tamil saint-poet Thiruvalluvar here, the BJP government in Karnataka has decided to finally unveil it on August 9. But Kannada outfits, who have been opposing it, have called for a Bangalore bandh on the day.

At an all party meeting here called by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, a majority of participants backed the government’s decision not to link the unveiling of statue, stalled over the years due to protests by Kannada groups, to other vexed disputes with Tamil Nadu like Cauvery river water sharing and Hogennakkal drinking water project.

During the three-hour meeting, writers and leaders of Congress, JD(S), JD(U) and Left parties pledged their support to the event being held near Ulsoor lake in which Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi would participate. But, members of Kannada outfits staged a dharna and shouted slogans near Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, after coming to know about government’s decision.

Kannada Chaluvali leader Vatal Nagaraj and Karnataka Rakshana Vedike opposed the unveiling, while R S N Gowda, a Kannada protagonist, stood by the government. The statue-diplomacy between the two states comes in the midst of decades-long row over Cauvery water sharing and the Hogennakal project aimed at providing drinking water to Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts in Tamil Nadu using the Cauvery water to which Karnataka is opposed.

“Thiruvalluvar statue would be unveiled in the city on August 9 and that of the revolutionary Kannada poet Sarvajna at Chennai on August 13,” Yeddyurappa said, while promising to protect Karnataka’s interests on land, water rights and language issues.