Retaliation in Chennai, stir in K'taka

A day after Kannada groups attacked cinema halls showing Tamil movies and a Tamil Sangam office in Bangalore, restaurants run by a Karnataka business house were ransacked in Chennai on Hogenakkal issue while the groups continued their agitation in Karnataka attacking the office of a Tamil daily and blocking traffic.

Two restaurants, one located in the premises of the Madras High Court and another at Armenian Street "" belonging to Karnataka business man, were attacked and ransacked allegedly by a group of advocates. Two employees of the restaurants and two others were injured in the attack, police said.

Cable TV operators in Tamil Nadu decided to black out Kannada satellite TV Channels from midnight tonight. Kayal Ilavarasu, President, Tamil Nadu Cable TV Owners' Association, told PTI that the Association had requested local multisystem operators not to beam Kannada channels. However, much to the relief of viewers, cable operators in Karnataka decided not to black out Tamil channels as demanded pro-Kannada groups.

Karnataka State Cable TV Operators Association and Multisystem Operators Association today held a meeting and decided not to black out Tamil channels as of now, their spokesperson V S Patric Raju told PTI here.

Raju said it was decided to take all channels, not just Tamil channels alone, off air for 12 hours from 6 am to 6 pm, on April 10, the day of the bandh called by pro-Kannada groups on Hogenakkal issue.

In Karnataka, a group of agitators stormed the office of the Tamil daily, blackened its board and threatened the staff not to bring out tomorrow's edition.

Meanwhile, former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna today appealed to Tamil Nadu to cooperate in finding a consensus on the Hogenakkal project through talks.

"I met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi yesterday and briefed him about objections being raised by Karnataka on the project and the remarks by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi which has sparked off agitation", Krishna, who now is in-charge of Election Management in the state told a press conference in Bangalore.

He said even as Tamil Nadu maintained that the project was purely to meet drinking water needs, there are certain procedures which had to be followed up since it involved inter-state river, a dispute pending between the states for years.

"Tamil Nadu should cooperate with Karnataka in finding a consensus on the Hogenakkal project through talks as it is in the interest of both the states," he said and noted that the project was cleared by the NDA regime.

The former Maharashtra Governor suggested that none from either side should indulge in provocative speeches, a charge which has already been denied by Karunanidhi in his letter to the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, former KPCC president B Janardhana Poojary at a separate press conference blamed NDA government led by A B Vajpayee and Janata Dal ministry headed by the then chief minister late J H Patel for the present crisis.

While NDA government cleared it, Patel supported it, Poojary charged. BJP has no right to protest on the issue now, he said.