Tamil Nadu and Karnataka: Bitter Foes?

Only two of Karnataka’s districts, which have received very little rainfall this monsoon season, are affected by the state’s sharing of the Kaveri water with Tamil Nadu, but the dispute between the states has been a political issue for more than a century.

The river originates in Karnataka and flows into Tamil Nadu. Karnataka, through a system of dams, is in a position to control how much water will continue into Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu believes that even though it is downstream it has as much right to the river as Karnataka. The Indian government has tried to solve the dispute, but has largely failed.

Over the years, the river dispute has turned the two states into bitter foes. The issue has even developed into a battle of cultural supremacy between Tamil, which is spoken in Tamil Nadu, and Kannada, the language spoken by a majority in Karnataka. In the past, Tamil migrants in Bangalore have been attacked. Partisans of Karnataka have gone to the border to throw stones at Tamil Nadu. And every now and then, as is the case this month, the screening of Tamil films is banned in Karnataka.

A few years ago, Tamil and Kannada film stars confronted each other in a border village by staging a death fast. Kannada stars sat in Karnataka territory and lamented Tamil Nadu’s demands for more water. Tamil stars sat in their state and demanded more water from the Kaveri. As usually happens with death fasts in India, nobody died.

The river dispute has also influenced the content of Tamil and Kannada films. About a decade ago the film “H2O” was released. A bilingual film, in both Tamil and Kannada, it was a story of two men in love with the same woman. The unambiguous metaphor of the film cast one suitor as Tamil Nadu and the other as Karnataka, and the woman was the river. Her character, not surprisingly, was called Kaveri.

The film boldly tried to educate the people of both the states that politicians were trying to create a rift between the two peaceful populations. There is a scene in which a villain releases gossip into the air, which transmogrifies into many tiny arrows that enter villagers’ ears, turning friends who are walking together into sudden foes who start fighting. It was not at all intended to be a funny film.

To a large extent, politicians in both states have ensured that the issue remains alive and simmering and far from resolved. Prakash Belawadi, a filmmaker and journalist who has written extensively about the river dispute, told me: “Politicians cannot and do not want to resolve the issue. The dispute can be solved only by engineers and farmers who have a stake in the river.”

As the dispute escalates, it is a reminder that in contemporary India, where regional political forces are more powerful than ever and even politicians affiliated with national parties do not always respect the notion of a central command, New Delhi’s power to resolve tensions between states has steadily diminished.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/11/world/asia/11iht-letter11.html

The ongoing Cauvery dispute has affected the release of action-thriller "Maattrraan in Karnataka. The Tamil film, starring actor Surya, hit worldwide screens on Friday.

Most of the recently released Tamil films like Vikram's "Thaandavam", "Sundarapandian" and other movies are taken off cinemas screens by exhibitors, fearing violence by pro-Kannada groups.

"Maattrraan" is not available for booking on Bookmyshow site. Surprisingly, there is no Tamil film category in the drop-down list of the movie selection field on the ticket booking website. Also, there are no reports of any single screen showing the new film across the state.

However, the Telugu version of the film titled "Brothers" will be screened across several theatres much to the relief of Surya's Telugu fans living in Karnataka. The film was released on Oct 12 - the same day when the Tamil version was expected to be screened.

The Tamil and Kannada film industries are still at loggerheads over several political issues. During the time of dissent between the two neighbouring states, theatres screening Tamil films in Karnataka were attacked and the same incident happened in Tamil Nadu.

In 1991, Karnataka witnessed the worst of the Cauvery riots and Tamil films were banned for almost a year. Since then, every time the two state governments whip up tensions over the water-sharing issue, Tamil movies face temporary suspension.

In a bid to avoid such occurrences this time, theatre owners have suspended the showing of Tamil films.

Karnataka has a very good market for Tamil movies as Tamils significantly contribute to the state's population. Many of the big star films open to a massive response at the box office in the state. The ban on the films would mean a huge dent in profits for Tamil filmmakers.

Protests have been ruling the streets of Karnataka for the past few weeks over the Centre's decisions and the Supreme Court directive to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu on a daily basis.

http://www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/393510/20121012/maattrraan-release-karnataka-banned-cauvery-dispute-surya.htm

Not at all. As SUCH has proved, they are like France and Germany in the present day.