Cauvery issue led to the cancellation of Kannada literary meet

Coimbatore: A Kannada literature meet ‘Samakala Kannada Ilakkiyam’ had to be cancelled halfway after the activists of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) disrupted the event protesting against Tamil Nadu on Cauvery issues on Sunday.

To the shock of the organizers, the protesters, led by a TPDK activist, M Manoharan, barged into the venue shouting slogans demanding the event should be called off immediately.

They argued that such meet literature could not be allowed in as the Tamilians were being targeted in Karnataka in view of the unrest following the Supreme Court order to the state to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu every day.

The police intervened on getting the information and removed the activists from the venue but the organizers decided to call off the event apprehending further ruckus by the protesters. Over 50 Kannada writers mostly from Tamil Nadu had participated in the meet which, in fact, was planned months before Cauvery issue hit the state.

Meanwhile, the police claimed that they had offered full security to the organizers but it was their call to call off the meet.