Sharing a River
A river is an artery of a society, a life line of a civilisation. When men on both ends of a great river divided themselves and squalidly fought each other, she might have sighed, wept secretly deep inside. Still she was kind, fed her children, with all that she had, carried in her bosom the droplets of both love and life. She was a mother in the true meaning of that great word.We humans see truth when the mind is set towards infinite. It is not in the narrow present, not in our immediate sensations, but in the consciousness of the whole which gives us a taste of what we should have in what we do have.
All civilisations are nurtured within walls and boundaries, matured too. Those walls were based on cast, creed, religion, language, and faith which leave their marks deep in the minds of men. This creates a habit of securing all resources by fortifying them and separating from one another. It breeds a strong suspicion in whoever is beyond the barrier and they will have to fight stubbornly for the entry as well as the sharing.After 16 years of wait on both sides of the boundary, in the Cauvery issue the historic final judgement has come.
The imbroglio faced and shaped life and politics in the Cauvery basin better known as Cauvery delta. Emotional barometer touched all time high, erupting volcanic violence when the interim verdict was announced and when provocative statements were given by authorities. Sensational crusades were carried out, parochialism and regional chauvinism took rebirth and many a politicians built their careers around it.
Race for resources started in early 1920s when Karnataka built their first major dam, Krishna Raja Sagar in Mysore. Madras government reiterated with the Mettur dam. In 1956 when Kerala was formed, the tiny state too claimed a share of Cauvery.Series of major dams were built in the following decades, Kabini, Hemavathi, Suvarnavathy, Amravati, and Harangi. Failed monsoons and subsequent non- release of adequate water irked protests from Tamil Nadu, historically a water deficit state. Serious bi- party meetings were held.
The river battle reached the Supreme Court and the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi initiated the setting up of Cauvery Fact Finding Committee (CFFC). Heated discussions followed, on both sides of the border, region’s clique of fat-cat elites roused the regional sentiments to meet their selfish needs, governments changed, Cauvery, as a silent witness continued her way nonchalantly to the great ocean bed with a poignant tone.In 1991, the Cauvery tribunal passed the interim order as per the directive of the Supreme Court. Violence broke out in Bangalore and Mysore, Tamil Ian establishments were attacked and ransacked, and thousands of Tamils flee Karnataka. Since then it perpetuated in fixed orbits around the cold spheres of regional solitude.
No solution to a complex issue can please all, but the final order is just and equitable settlements of a highly contentious inter state issue. Let us salute judiciary, accept the verdict and preach brotherhood and unity among multilinguals. If we could see ourselves as others see us, we would raise our sights a lot higher than they are today. And the great river, in spite of all these flows on and on and on…
All civilisations are nurtured within walls and boundaries, matured too. Those walls were based on cast, creed, religion, language, and faith which leave their marks deep in the minds of men. This creates a habit of securing all resources by fortifying them and separating from one another. It breeds a strong suspicion in whoever is beyond the barrier and they will have to fight stubbornly for the entry as well as the sharing.After 16 years of wait on both sides of the boundary, in the Cauvery issue the historic final judgement has come.
The imbroglio faced and shaped life and politics in the Cauvery basin better known as Cauvery delta. Emotional barometer touched all time high, erupting volcanic violence when the interim verdict was announced and when provocative statements were given by authorities. Sensational crusades were carried out, parochialism and regional chauvinism took rebirth and many a politicians built their careers around it.
Race for resources started in early 1920s when Karnataka built their first major dam, Krishna Raja Sagar in Mysore. Madras government reiterated with the Mettur dam. In 1956 when Kerala was formed, the tiny state too claimed a share of Cauvery.Series of major dams were built in the following decades, Kabini, Hemavathi, Suvarnavathy, Amravati, and Harangi. Failed monsoons and subsequent non- release of adequate water irked protests from Tamil Nadu, historically a water deficit state. Serious bi- party meetings were held.
The river battle reached the Supreme Court and the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi initiated the setting up of Cauvery Fact Finding Committee (CFFC). Heated discussions followed, on both sides of the border, region’s clique of fat-cat elites roused the regional sentiments to meet their selfish needs, governments changed, Cauvery, as a silent witness continued her way nonchalantly to the great ocean bed with a poignant tone.In 1991, the Cauvery tribunal passed the interim order as per the directive of the Supreme Court. Violence broke out in Bangalore and Mysore, Tamil Ian establishments were attacked and ransacked, and thousands of Tamils flee Karnataka. Since then it perpetuated in fixed orbits around the cold spheres of regional solitude.
No solution to a complex issue can please all, but the final order is just and equitable settlements of a highly contentious inter state issue. Let us salute judiciary, accept the verdict and preach brotherhood and unity among multilinguals. If we could see ourselves as others see us, we would raise our sights a lot higher than they are today. And the great river, in spite of all these flows on and on and on…
posted by arjun sagar at 10:34 pm
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