Sea of symbolic black as Modi visits Chennai
PROTESTS WERE HELD WITH BLACK FLAGS ACROSS TAMIL NADU
Black flags and balloons and activists in black shirts and trousers greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he paid a whirlwind visit to Chennai via helicopter, in the wake of statewide agitation demanding constitution of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).
Protests were also held with black flags and placards throughout Tamil Nadu in cities like Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Coimbatore and Tuticorin against the Prime Minister’s brief visit to the state and the Centre’s failure to constitute the CMB despite a Supreme Court order. Black flags were hoisted on homes and business establishments across the state.
In a bid to avoid protesters, Modi, who arrived here by a special aircraft in the morning, chose a helicopter to reach Tiruvidanthai, in neighbouring Kanchipuram district where he opened the 10th Def Expo organised by the Defence Ministry. From there he took another helicopter to IIT Madras, in the heart of the city. He then took a one-kilometre ride by car to the neighbouring Adyar Cancer Institute for an event.
Face-to-face
The Prime Minister walked a few steps from the helicopter to the car that ferried him to the Cancer Institute. As he did so, he encountered some 30 students from IIT Madras who stood silently but held posters demanding a Cauvery Management Board as ordered by the Supreme Court — an issue which has whipped up emotions in Tamil Nadu.
Modi then left by helicopter to the airport before returning to Delhi.
#Go back Modi trended on top as netizens took to the cyberspace to register their protest against the Central government’s failure to set up the CMB as directed by the Supreme Court to ensure proper sharing of Cauvery waters between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and other states.
Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan yesterday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliver justice that Tamil Nadu is looking for amid growing political turmoil over the Cauvery water issue.
As Modi arrived here on Thursday, Kamal tweeted a video and shared an open letter to the Prime Minister via social media. “You can easily deliver the justice that Tamil Nadu is asking for,” Kamal said.
In the letter, in which he has called himself a “concerned citizen of India and Tamizh Nadu”, Kamal said people were dismayed by the delay in setting up Cauvery Water Management Board and wanted justice.
“The Supreme Court has already performed its constitutional role by delivering the judgement. It is now the turn of your government to perform its constitutional duty and implement the order,” he said.
Kamal pointed out how in his earlier role as Gujarat Chief Minister, Modi had the experience of water-sharing among four states through the Narmada Control Authority.
“Please do the needful as our Prime Minister and set up the Cauvery Water Management Board to ensure implementation of the Supreme Court order in letter and spirit. “All sections of people of Tamizh Nadu have started to believe that this delay is due to ensuing elections in Karnataka and your party’s interest in it. Sir, it is your duty as the Prime Minister to prove this wrong,” Kamal added.