*Opinions are welcome* ** ** *Fishing in troubled waters* *Bobby Kunhu**·*<https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1&view=page&name=gp&ver=sh3fib53pgpk#_edn1> **
Karnataka has a crisis where all political parties suffer from acute credibility loss, since the dissolution drama – the list headed by the former Prime Minister, Mr. Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular) – and elections are round the corner. If one is not willing to work on credibility winning ideologies in the long term, the fall-back on xenophobic vandalism exists. Sounds like a plot for a blockbuster – but facts are often stranger than fiction. Mr. Modi proved it as a winning formula in Gujarat and Mr. Gowda and gang are complicit in facilitating a repeat of the experiment in Karnataka. It is not my argument that Tamil politicians are beyond xenophobia - they have proved their mettle on a number of occasions, from pillorying the actor Khushbu for her opinion on sexuality to Tamil as a compulsory language The past few days have been hellish and near war-like - as if a Tamil person owning a piece of land in Mandya would not want to optimise the Cauvery flowing through his district and would owe his or her allegiance to a distant Tamil Nadu. Borders have been closed – shut off. Workers travelling for daily wage from both sides of the border literally smuggled themselves in and out. With glamour thrown in – the film stars have taken to the road to protect their mega-bucks. Now all this was for Hogenakkal, one of my favourite picnic spots. Hogenakkal is a declared reserved forest land under the Indian Forest Act, where Cauvery makes her aggressive entry into Tamil Nadu – like she knew the turbulence she would cause with her polyandrous course. A rocky dry stage, with multiple waterfalls, Hogenakkal has offered me a new discovery, every time I have been there – pristine beaches to interesting rock faces where one can retire, meditate or make love. Bored, one walks down, picks up a fresh fish, there are bilingual vendors with portable stoves willing to fry them, and procure "beer" to wet a parched tongue from across the cheaper Karnataka side for a few extra rupees. The experience cannot be complete without a ride on the circular bamboo boats through the water falls. This place was further immortalised, thanks to being the operational area of the late moustachioed brigand Veerappan. I have never wondered at the linguistic identity of the vendors and I presume that that most of it would be mixed. Moves for damming this rich energy source have been afoot for ages, interestingly with support from some political quarters in Karnataka that believed, it could be a solution to the Cauvery dispute and provide relief to a parched Karnataka from releasing more water to Tamil Nadu. From Veerappan to environmental opposition have been stumbling blocks that prevented any move in the direction of a dam here. With Veerappan dead, and acute water crisis in the districts surrounding Hogenakkal (Dharmapuri and Salem), the DMK led government found it opportune to declare a Quixotic drinking water scheme, regardless of environmental costs. Well, that discourse is buried now, under the xenophobic paranoia that came as a huge support for the Government of Tamil Nadu from the political crisis in Karnataka. Like Rama Sethu, now it becomes time for emotional upheavals. The vendors in Hogenakkal gasping for breath (am still uncertain about the language they gasp in). However, one cannot help but salute the astute politician in Karunanidhi, in pulling the rug from beneath the feet of the already tattered credibility of Karnataka politics and announcing his interest in negotiating with a future elected government. Jayalalithaa in her Poes Garden retreat has not read the writing on the wall – may be because it is in her mother tongue that she is amnesiac about!!!!!! ------------------------------ ·<https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1&view=page&name=gp&ver=sh3fib53pgpk#_ednref1> Bobby Kunhu is a Human Rights advocate, writer and educator -- Bobby Kunhu --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
