Rajkumar's Abduction – Villains in the backyard:
Dr. Rajkumar - veteran actor and icon of Kannadigas was abducted from his farmhouse at Gajanoor near Karnataka - TamilNadu border by Verappan - a brigand and an Ivory Smuggler. The abduction has sent shock waves across Karnataka and created anguish and frustration among millions of kannadigas. This is the most daring and outrageous act by Veerappan and his henchmen. He has succeeded in creating panic among people of karnataka and is trying to extract amnesty for all his heinous crimes of killing people and smuggling precious wealth of Ivory worth several crores.
The kidnapping of the matinee idol of Karnataka deserves to be condemned by one and all. All efforts should be made to get Rajkumar back - safe and sound. At this juncture we are forced to accept all the conditions of the forest thug. The people of Karnataka are ready to sacrifice anything to get the safe release of Dr. Rajkumar and there is no doubt that our hero will return back soon to relieve the people of their anxiety.
If we analyze some of the demands of Veerappan, we can see a deep-rooted conspiracy against Kannadigas. The TNLA - a militant tamil organization that has connections with Veerappan is drafting the demands. Let us take a survey of some of his demands that have been sent through the emissary to the Governments of Karnataka and Tamilnadu: 1) Refer Cauvery dispute to International Court of Justice. 2) Recognize Tamil as the second official Language of Karnataka. 3) Installation of the Statue of Thiruvaluvar (a famous Tamil Poet) in Bangalore 4) Rehabilitate and protect Tamil people in Karnataka.
These demands are a blow to the pride of Kannadigas. This is like snatching the bread from the hands of Kannadigas. Everyone in Karnataka should be deeply concerned about the turns these demands are taking. Let us look at these demands closely and you will see how the Tamil Politicians and terrorist Tamil groups are trying to finish off Kannada language and Kannadigas.
1) Refer Cauvery dispute to International Court of Justice.
Cauvery River takes her birth at TalaCavery in Coorg district of Karnataka and has been the lifeline of Mysore and Madya districts for hundreds of years. Cauvery is source of drinking water to millions of its residents (including millions of Tamilins living in Karanataka) has benefited many cities including Bangalore. After the cauvery dispute became acute and TamilNadu government demands more and more water every year, and Karnataka was forced to go on defencive. Many political parties like AIDMK and DMK survive mainly keeping the Cauvery demands in a high pitch. During the last year the Cauvery River Authority was formed under the stewardship of the Prime Minister, Karnataka yielded to these pressures and accepted to release water every 3 months. This has to be met irrespective of whether the Cauvery river receives any rainwater or not during monsoons. The duplicity of these agreements is evident from the fact that many judges and legal luminaries in New Delhi hail from Tamil Nadu and their sympathy rest all ways with Tamil Nadu. The Central Government acted as per the whims of DMK - the political ally of BJP in the center. Now, the question that goes unanswered is - What are the benefits of such an agreement to Karnataka? "Nothing" - as per many legal experts in Karanataka high court. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu government still thinks that it got a raw deal. So, the thumb rule of tamilians is "the more you give, the more they demand." This theory aptly proves the fact that thousands of hectares of land are brought under cultivation every year in the Tanjore Delta to extract more and more water from Karnataka. While the central government and various tribunals have strictly prohibited Karnataka from increasing the cultivation land in Mandya and Mysore districts - give a deaf ear if you point out the duplicity of Tamil Nadu in this regard. This is the justice system we, kannadigas have to live with for being the part of Union Government of India - the world's largest democracy. Our next generations have to suffer even more due to the increasing demands of these rogue neighbors. These same people who threatened to blow up the KRS dam near Mysore during the 1992-93 Cauvery protests, are today threatening us even more to release more water and take the case to International courts - so that they can grab not only Cauvey but also parts of Karnataka. No one should have any doubt in their mind, if these people demand areas within Karnataka to be handed over to Tamil Nadu, because of the number of Tamil Population living in that area. So goes our mother Cauvery into the hands of liars, hipocrates and villains in our backyard.
2) Recognize Tamil as the second official Language of Karnataka
The next issue is the corollary of the issue number 1 discussed above. However, this demand has deep-rooted implications and seems a direct attack on Kannadigas, to get legitimacy to Tamil language. There can not be a bigger threat to Kannada language than this one, in its own home. If we yield to this one, we have to bid goodbye to Kannada language in the next 10-15 years. This demand is an insult to us and we should not accept this.
The arrogance of Tamil people is crystal clear in the demands of Veerappan. We don't need any more proof to show that we have a serious problem that is threatening to engulf our language and its culture. We can not be mute spectators to this outrageous demand. We must not waste more time. We must fight back and teach these lunatics a lesson. How dare Veerappan or any one demand such a thing from us? We shall demand that Kannada be accepted as a second language in Tamil Nadu. Kannadigas living in Karnataka or within India or Overseas have to understand that we should not be too naive to think that these demands are too simple and should be ignored. If we are callous today, we pay a heavy price tomorrow and that blow will be lethal for the Kannadigas and Karanataka State.
3) Installation of the Statue of Thiruvaluvar (a famous Tamil Poet) in Bangalore
How many statues of Dr. Shivarama Karanatha, Dr. Bendre, Kuvempu, DVG and other Kannada poets, do we have in Bangalore? The right answer is "None". Other than few streets of Hanumantha Nagar and Gandhi Bazaar being named after them, there are no statues in the city. Now, compare that with the demand of Veerappan that a famous Tamil poet's statue needs to be unveiled in Bangalore so that the Tamil People living in the city feel at home. This is not a new demand. It is as old as Cauvery issue, if not earlier. The AIADMK members of Karnataka Assembly (Don't be taken aback. We have Corporators and MLAs who represent Tamil Population in our Administration) have been submitting Memoranda's in bundles every year for the past several years and have not met any success - thanks to some Kannada groups. The lameduck governments in our state have not taken these cases seriously and thus these demands are coming up every now and then. Last year a street protest was organized by Tamil politicians in Bangalore demanding the unveiling of the statue of the Tamil poet. The Kannada groups have thwarted their evil designs by demanding the installation of Statue of Sarvgna in Madras.
This is where we all need to be united and force our government to put an ordinance in place that prohibits such demands from linguistic minorities - especially from Tamilians. Is anyone from our state government listening to this? Is that so difficult that we can't put a law in place to protect our interests? Don't we have legal experts who can help us in this regard? Our legal and literary experts should shed their "there-is-no-threat-for-kannada" attitude and become more active and help protect it from such threats. That is the only way we can teach these people a lesson or two.
4) Rehabilitate and protect Tamil people in Karnataka.
The final demand of Veerappan seems to stem from the fact that he is trying to play hero's role in protecting the tamilians. The image of savior that he wants to garner is at the cost of taxpayer money from Karnataka. Several thousand Kannada families too suffer from hunger and lack of shelter. But that doesn't call for any attention from the Government. We need to be more concerned about our "guests".
Aren't we providing the tamilians in karnataka with water and food? Isn't the government to purchase subsidized food items issuing ration cards to them? Aren't they provided with land to build homes to live in? Where is the question of not looking after them properly? These amenities are provided at the cost of many poor kannadigas. They snatch our jobs and still want more.
The resources are Karnataka are for Kannadigas only. No one can demand or snatch them away. Such threats and illegal demands can't cow us down. We will fight to protect our language and people and our territory. Our spirits are not dead to accept a forest brigand or his masters, to take us for ransom. Kannadigas have to rise to the occasion and solve our problems ourselves.
The release of Dr.Raj Kumar is a primary importance to all Kannadigas. He must be released safely immediately. We demand that Tamil Nadu government take all necessary steps to ensure his release.
Sirigannadam Gelge