Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday wrote to his Tamil Nadu counterpart J Jayalalithaa requesting her to ensure protection to Kannada-speaking people living in the neighbouring state.
Siddaramaiah’s one-page letter comes in the wake of chaos reigning in both the states over the Cauvery dispute.
In his letter to Jayalalithaa, copies of which were released to the media here, Siddaramaiah said, “You would agree that incidents of violence against Kannada speaking people that are being reported from Tamil Nadu would incite passions threatening peace in our state, which all of us should prevent.”
Siddaramaiah stated that the Karnataka government was firmly committed to maintaining law and order in the state and ensure the safety and protection of all citizens, particularly those from Tamil Nadu.
He said that an incident of an engineering student Santosh from Tamil Nadu being roughed up in Bengaluru has been blown out of proportion by Tamil media channels.
“This incident is likely to incite passions and violence against Kannada-speaking people in Tamil Nadu”, he stated.
Siddaramaiah said the Bengaluru City police have already filed a case in the Santosh incident and investigations were under progress.
He also urged Jayalalithaa to direct authorities in Tamil Nadu to ensure perpetrators of violence against Kannada-speaking people are brought to book.
Earlier, in a press statement, Siddaramaiah stated that he had directed Chief Secretary Aravind Jadhav and DG&IGP Om Prakash to keep in touch with their counterparts in Tamil Nadu till normalcy is restored.
Siddaramaiah stated that he will speak to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and keep him informed about law and order situation in Karnataka.
Siddaramaiah appealed to the people of the state to maintain peace and not take law into their hands.
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