Pro-Kannada activists physically expelled actor Siddharth from a press conference at the city’s SRV theater while he was in Bengaluru to promote his upcoming movie Chithha.
According to the allegation, when the actor engaged in conversation with the media, a group of men entered and requested him to leave. Additionally, the activists instructed the organizers to call an end to the meeting in support of the ongoing Cauvery agitation. They questioned how it was possible to host a film-related event while the bandh was supported by the Kannada Film Chamber itself. The star remained unaffected as he interacted with the journalists again.
We’ve been engaged in conflict for the previous 15 days, the protesters countered. They question the appropriation for a Tamil actor to visit and promote their film while Karnataka has been supplying water to Tamil Nadu all this while. Siddharth thanked the reporters but immediately left the press conference due to pressure.
For those unfamiliar, a number of pro-Kannada parties and farmer groups have called for a Karnataka Bandh on September 29 in opposition to the supply of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
Actors’ response to Activists invading the conference
Shiva Rajkumar apologized to Siddharth for the interruption in a video that is currently going viral. To loosely translate his apology into English from Kannada, he said, “Today, on behalf of my industry, I would like to say extremely sorry to Mr. Siddharth. Such a mistake will never happen again, and I am deeply saddened. The good people of Kannada adore all films and all languages. Only Karnataka residents see all genres of films.
Actor and politician Prakash Raj has apologized to Tamil actor Siddharth on behalf of sahrudaya’ (tender-hearted) Kannadigas, a day after Siddharth had to leave an event midway through while promoting his new movie Chithha.
Instead of interrogating all political parties and their leaders for their failure to find a solution to this long-standing problem, Prakash stated that Instead of interrogating the useless lawmakers who are not forcing the center to interfere. In response to a video he shared from the event on X (previously known as Twitter). On behalf of Kannadigas, artists who offend the general public cannot be acknowledged as Kannadigas.
The Cauvery Water Dispute
On September 29, a number of pro-Kannada political parties, agricultural organizations, and labor unions joined forces to call for a bandh in Karnataka. This collective action is being taken in opposition to the transfer of water from the Cauvery River to Tamil Nadu.
Karnataka had to comply by an order from the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to provide 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu over the course of 15 days. In response, the Karnataka cabinet decided to give more water to Tamil Nadu after the Supreme Court made clear that it was powerless to get involved in this situation. Numerous farming groups and pro-Kannada organizations subsequently mobilized to protest this resolution.
The protesters claim that even though the southwestern monsoon has decreased and the reservoirs in Karnataka’s Cauvery basin are currently at extremely low storage levels, the water continues to be supplied to Tamil Nadu. The Cauvery River is crucial for irrigation in the Mandya district of Karnataka and serves as Bengaluru’s main source of water.
A number of Karnataka’s movie theaters will be closed tomorrow until evening in an effort to support the protests.
