The long-standing conflict between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu regarding the distribution of Cauvery river water, has often been used for vote bank politics. Usually, the Tamil film industry – Kollywood – unite and speak against the Kannadigas and Karnataka. But for the first time, a Tamil actor Simbu has spoken in favour of the people of Karnataka. His statement where he has expressed his concern about the plight of Kannadigas, has gone heavily viral on social media. Also, the video has been garnering a lot of appreciation from all quarters. In the video, Simbu said though he is not born in Karnataka, considering himself as born to a Kannada mother he is appealing to the mother to share the leftover water post the consumption by her Kannada children. He gave a call to “dear Kannadigas, give one glass of water to a Tamilian, make a video and send.” He appealed to Kannadigas “on 11th April, between 3 pm and 6 pm, saying, I request every friend, brother, sister and mother of Karnataka to post a video of them giving a glass of water to a fellow Tamilan. I hope they will support us in our critical struggle! After all, we are all humans before any form of discrimination.” He also said “if you fail to do so, we will conclude that you do not want to share water. We do not want politics over a sensitive issue like this one,” he said. Cauvery row has caused much tension in Tamil Nadu and the politicians have been trying to bend the issue for their own benefits. To join the movement, Tamil film industry also held a silent protest. Simbu said “Attempts are made to divide men in the name of religion, caste and location. I am not here to talk about the Supreme Court judgement or Cauvery Tribunal. We are demanding a lot of water but when heavy rains flooded our houses why didn’t anybody speak?” he asked. Dividing humans for various reasons, is a major problem. Let us fight against it in the social network #UniteForHumanity. Let us imbibe humanitarian concerns, he said.
