Water Wars

Civil unrest broke out in Chennai (formerly Madras) and other parts of the southeast Indian state of Tamil Nadu today. The disturbances were the latest developments in a month long controversy over the Hogenakkal Drinking Water Project. The multi-billion dollar proposal, announced by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in February, would use water from the Hogenakkal Falls on the Cauvery River on the border of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to provide safe drinking water for Tamils in the region.

The BJP government (a Hindu-nationalist party, see previous post) in Karnataka has openly opposed the proposal, arguing that the government in Chennai (the capital of Tamil Nadu) is neglecting a territorial dispute that is still before the Supreme Court. The political opposition in Karnataka has spilled over into civil unrest, as pro-Kannada (the primary linguistic/ethnic group in Karnataka) activists have attacked Tamil movie theaters and businesses in response to Tamil demonstrations in the region. The violence has continued, and as today’s episode shows, spread to Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu, as both Tamils and Kannadans react to earlier demonstrations and violence.

M. Karunanidhi, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, has criticized the violence and has called on the the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to stop what he considers a humanitarian crisis. Members of the Tamil film industry have also organized a hunger strike to protest the anti-Tamil demonstrations and aggression. The BJP in Tamil Nadu condemned the attacks which have occurred under the watch of their Kannadan counterpart.

This civil unrest exhibits a number of important points about Indian society and democracy. First, Indian society is extremely stratified; socioeconomic, caste, linguistic, ethnic and religious barriers divide people at all levels of society. India’s relative ability to control and overcome such divisions is partly what makes the country’s democratic regime truly remarkable. However, as the disputes in Chennai show, the young south Asian democracy still has some kinks to work out. Sumit Ganguly, in Larry Diamond and Leonardo Morlino’s Assessing the Quality of Democracy, argues that rule of law in India began to unravel in the 70s, under the rule of Indira Gandhi. Since then, the Indian government has been plagued by corruption and has been unable to prevent outbursts of ethnic and religious violence and civil unrest.

The responses to the water project show that the Indian public is aware of governmental issues and involved in civic groups. Normal citizens have banded together, albeit violently at times, to oppose or support a government project that, to an outsider, seems rather mundane (I don’t want to say that it is unimportant — it very well may be a life or death issue for people in the water deprived regions– however, similar spending bills are passed daily, and peacefully, in democracies around the world). Also, the Tamil film guild’s hunger strike shows political consciousness and activism in Indian civil society.

http://www.newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=6342%20&%20section=7

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/tamil-nadu-launches-new-drinking-water-project_10021543.html

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/karunanidhi-seeks-pms-intervention-slams-bangalore-violence_10033377.html

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/tension-over-tamil-nadu-drinking-water-project_10028059.html