By IANS,
Bangalore : Warring for decades over sharing of the Cauvery waters, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are set to remove one other irritant in their ties — unveiling of the statues of saint poets Thiruvalluvar in Bangalore and Sarvajna in Chennai on Sunday and Aug 13 respectively.
The statue of Thiruvalluvar, author of Tamil masterpiece “Thirukkural”, will be uncovered Sunday, 18 years after it was installed, amidst protests by pro-Kannada organisations.
Four days later, the statue of Kannada poet Sarvajna will be unveiled in Chennai.
Thiruvalluvar, believed to be born 30 years before Jesus Christ, wrote “Thirukkural” in the form of couplets (two line poems) expounding various aspects of life.
Sarvajna, believed to belong to the 18th century, is known for his “Tripadis” (three-line poems) on life, religion, beliefs and problems of daily living.
Pro-Kannada organisations had stalled Thiruvalluvar’s statue unveiling, maintaining that Tamil Nadu has been unfair to Karnataka over Cauvery river water sharing.
Last year’s decision of Tamil Nadu to start the Hogennakal drinking water project to supply drinking water to two of its districts only added to the tension between the two neighbours.
One more irritant came in the form of a petition by a Tamil Nadu advocate in the Madras High Court last year challenging granting of classical status to Kannada language by the central government.
Tamil was accorded the classical status by the central government earlier.
Kannada and Telugu were granted the status later following strong protests by the people of the two states.
Pro-Kannada organisations are isolated and divided over the unveiling of the Thiruvalluvar statue as all leading Kannada writers, including Jnanpeet awardee U.R. Ananthamurthy, are supporting the government’s decision to end the 18-year-old impasse.
The organisations are also divided over the form of protest on Sunday.
Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV-Karnataka protection forum) led by T.A. Narayana Gowda is opposing the Bangalore ‘bandh’ (shutdown) Sunday called by other groups.
The KRV, which has been in the news over disruption of the railway recruitment examination in Karnataka, also did not join the others in petitioning the high court against the unveiling ceremony. The petition was dismissed Friday.
The opposing group is mainly made up of former legislator and Kannada Chaluvaligaru (Kannada protagonists) member Vatal Nagaraj and the KRV faction led by Praveen Shetty.
Nagaraj has seen rapid decline in his support base. He lost the May 2008 assembly elections while the two KRV factions accuse each other of indulging in extortion and not working for the interests of Kannada people, language, culture and the border.
With Tamil speakers in majority in several localities in Bangalore, the city police is deploying additional forces in these areas to prevent possible violence.
The usual trouble-prone area is Shivajinagar in the heart of the city.
It is a mini-India with a mixed population, with a large number of Muslims, Christians and Tamil speakers. Temples, mosques and churches dot the area which also houses Russell Market, one of the oldest and most crowded markets in Bangalore.
The other area is Magadi Road, about six km from the city centre. A low and middle income locality, it has a large concentration of Tamil speakers.
Bangalore city Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari has told the pro-Kannada groups that they can hold demonstrations in certain designated places and his men are fully geared to thwart any attempt at violence or disruption of the unveiling ceremony.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, holidaying in Bangalore for the last one week, has been invited by his Karnataka counterpart B.S. Yeddyurappa to be present at the unveiling ceremony.
To placate the agitated pro-Kannada activists, Yeddyurappa has promised to arrange a train journey to anyone from Karnataka wanting to go to Chennai to attend the unveiling of the Sarvajna statue on Aug 13.
Appealing to KRV and other groups to maintain peace, Yeddyurappa told them Friday: “There is no reason for either the Bangalore shutdown or to hold agitations against the Thiruvalluvar statue unveiling.”