Protests have taken eccentric turns in several locations. In Ramanagara, protesters 'married' Siddaramiah and Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa in a marriage ritual. In Sanjay Circle in Mandya, an agitated protester slit his hand in protest, choosing to literally spill blood over the issue.
Some stood on one leg, some upside down. Some others have thumped their chests, balanced bricks on their heads, taken out bike and car rallies, slashed their wrists and even burnt effigies of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
Some have gone a step further and performed fake last rites of the Tamil CM, and some have even resorted to clobbering her cutouts with slippers.
All of this, for 'Namma Cauvery'.
Pro-Kannada organisations have done every crazy thing possible to condemn the SC verdict to release Cauvery to Tamil Nadu, culminating with today’s bandh.
Responding to the call made by Vatal Nagaraj, president of the Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha and face of the pro-Kannada organisations, Narayan Gowda, president of Kannada Rakshana Vedike, along with his supporters, tried to lay siege on the Bengaluru city railway station this morning.
The police stopped the activists and took a few into preventive custody.
Pro-Kannada activists also barged into the Kempegowda International Airport, but before they could enter the reservation counters, they were stopped by the police.
The activists patrolled the city on motorbikes to ensure cars, and other vehicles remained off the streets and shops remained closed. “People living in Bengaluru are heavily dependent on the Cauvery, so if they do not cooperate in the bandh, they shall be termed as traitors," said Praveen Shetty of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike.
Protests intensified at the City Town Hall after hundreds of protesters poured in from several pro-Kannada outfit rallies. In Vijayapura, protestors held a 'flower' protest, distributing flowers to bystanders as they protested.
Meanwhile, the protests have received strong support from the entire Sandalwood film industry. Artists like Shivarajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar, Ragini, Leelavathi, Bharathi were seen at the protests at Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce.
The Nataraj Theatre in Seshadripuram, which usually screens Tamil movies, has instead screened the Kannada movies Mungaru Male 2 and Golisoda in support of the protests. The screening of Tamil films have been stopped across the city.
Protests have taken eccentric turns in several locations. In Mysuru, a mock funeral of CM Siddaramaiah was performed. In Ramanagara, protesters 'married' Siddaramiah and Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa in a marriage ritual - using their portraits for the ceremony.
In Sanjay Circle in Mandya, an agitated protester slit his hand in protest, choosing to literally spill blood over the issue.
The bandh was called to protest the Supreme Court verdict which directed Karnataka to release 12 TMC of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
However, several districts of the state saw a muted response as well. In Karwar, for example, the bandh was not observed, and all places in the city were functioning normally
