Cauvery issue: CPI urges TN, K'taka govts to protect people

Amid raging row and violence over sharing of Cauvery water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, CPI today asked political parties and non-political outfits to not instigate masses and urged both the state governments to protect the people.
"The violence must be stopped. No political party, no organisation should instigate people against each other. The two states share all kinds of relations. The water issue should not be used to rouse passions on both sides," CPI national secretary D Raja said.
Noting the Cauvery issue as one of the oldest river water disputes, Raja though said Karnataka "should not take advantage" of being upper riparian state and that Tamil Nadu "should not be deprived" of its due share.

"There can be situations of distress. Now, in Karnataka there is no adequate water, there is a distress. There is mechanism how to share distress. So, both state governments should think rationally. Centre should try to help both the states," he added.
Sporadic violence have been reported from some other parts of Karnataka today, with the Siddaramaiah government asking Tamil Nadu to protect Kannadigas and assuring to safeguard Tamils in the state.
Trucks with Tamil Nadu registration number plate were either pelted with stones or set on fire in Bengaluru, Mandya, Mysuru, Chitradurga and Dharwad districts as Kannada activists expressed their anger over alleged attacks on the state vehicles and property of Kannadigas in the neighbouring state.

In Tamil Nadu, fringe outfits staged protests in parts of the state and Puducherry with some commercial and government establishments of Karnataka coming under attack over the release of Cauvery water.
The protests came a day after a video purportedly showing a 22-year-old Tamil youth being beaten up by a group of men in Bengaluru for his alleged "derogatory" remarks on social media against Kannada film actors.