Cauvery water dispute: Kannadigas hold candle light protest in Delhi

A large number of 'Kannadigas' on Saturday gathered in front of Karnataka Sangha and held a candle light protest and expressed their solidarity with the Karnataka Government and the people of the state in their struggle for the Cauvery water.

H.M. Revanna, former Karnataka minister, expressed his shock over the Supreme Court's repeated orders for releasing 6,000 cusecs of the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, even as there is not even sufficient water available for drinking purpose in Karnataka.

Prof. Purushothama Bilimale of JNU said the Supreme Court has asked the Karnataka Government for six times repeatedly to release the water without constituting a committee.

He said since Independence, Karnataka people have voted for only the national parties and rejected the regional parties, in spite of that the judiciary questioned the loyalty of the Kannadigas towards the federal system. It is nothing but a humiliation to the six crores Kannadigas, he added.

Delhi Karnataka Sangha president Vasantha Shetty Belleare said, "This candle light protest is only symbolic to express our solidarity with the fellow Kannadigas on the issue of Cauvery water. If justice is not delivered to the Kannadigas at the earliest, then Delhi Kannadigas are restrained to go for a severe protest in the national capital in the coming days."

"The continued injustice imposed on Kannadigas on the issue of the Cauvery river water sharing is no more tolerable, and if justice is not provided immediately, there will be a large scale protest by the Delhi Kannadigas," said Bellare.

The Supreme Court on Friday asked Karnataka to discharge 6,000 cusecs water from Saturday till October 6, while warning that "no one would know when the 'wrath of the law' would fall on it".

It ordered all the stakeholders - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pudduchery - to give names by 4 pm on Saturday of their representatives to be included in the board, which would be chaired by the Union Water Resources Minister.

Meanwhile, terming the Supreme Court's order to discharge 6,000 cusecs of the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from Saturday till October 6 a "defective order", Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said his government would file a review petition in the apex court on Monday.

"It is a defective order, so we have decided to file a review petition on Monday," said Siddaramaiah at a press conference, following an all-party representatives' meeting in the Conference Hall of the Vidhana Soudha here.

"The assembly has passed a resolution, so it is binding on us, and thus, we have taken the decision not to release the water. We have not defied the orders of the Supreme Court, as there is no wilful disobedience or deliberate disobedience," said the Chief Minister.

"As far as the releasing of the water is concerned, we will go back to the assembly. We have called a special session of the Karnataka legislature on Monday," said Siddaramaiah.

In the meantime, opposition parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (Secular), have expressed their solidarity with the Siddaramaiah government, and asked the Chief Minister to abide by the resolution adopted in the state assembly.