Dramatic scenes were witnessed among protestors, ranging from a mock funeral of TN Chief Minister MK Stalin to a farmer attempting suicide.
Published Sep 27, 2023 | 12:21 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 27, 2023 | 12:21 AM
D-Mart mall on Mysore Road remain closed
Seven years ago, it was a Monday — 12 September, 2016, to be exact — when widespread violence broke out in the southern part of Karnataka after the Supreme Court ordered Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
Agitators not only torched over 30 buses at a private depot in West Bengaluru off Mysore Road, but also vandalised a popular eatery named Adyar Ananda Bhavan — a brand from Tamil Nadu.
Adyar Ananda Bhavan, a Tamilian Brand eatery on Mysore Road
Siddaramaiah, who was the Karnataka chief minister back then as well, called for an emergency Cabinet meeting the next day to discuss the Cauvery issue.
Even as the city police imposed prohibitory orders by clamping Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), protestors went out of control and pelted stones at lorries and vehicles bearing Tamil Nadu registration numbers near the Hubbali bypass.
The aftershocks were felt in Tamil Nadu: A group of unidentified miscreants attacked the New Woodlands Hotel — owned by a Kannadiga — in the Mylapore neighbourhood of Chennai after the news of the Karnataka hotel attack spread.
Bracing for such possibilities of violence on Tuesday, 26 September, the Bengaluru City Police enforced prohibitory orders under Section 144 from Monday midnight.
The aforementioned Adyar Ananda Bhavan hotel on Mysore Road remained closed on Tuesday, and turned into a mini-hub for policemen picketing at the Mysore Road junction.
There were yellow-and-red Karnataka flags affixed to the hotel’s shutters and one flag hoisted in front of the hotel. There was a fire-tender along with a police bus stationed on both sides of the hotel.
Since the clamping of the prohibitory orders until the “Bengaluru bandh ended at 6 pm on Tuesday, the city police said they had taken more than 1,000 agitators into preventive custody.
“They arrived in clusters with their leaders at several spots in the central parts of the city, such as the Town Hall, near the Gandhi statue at the Maurya Circle, the Mysore Bank Circle, Gandhi Bazaar, and Freedom Park — the only spot where the police had given permission for the agitators to register their protest,” a senior police officer told South First.
He added: “Soon after the agitators started gathering at the Town Hall and Maurya Circle, they were bundled into police vans and BMTC buses on standby, taken to the City Armed Reserves (CAR) grounds, and placed in preventive custody.
Overall, the bandh was uneventful throughout the city, with Central Bengaluru observing the strike diligently.
While government offices functioned as usual, a majority of private establishments remained closed in Central Bengaluru — especially in the Central Business District (CBD).
The Krishnarajapuram (KR) Market wore a deserted look. However, some shops and outlets remained open.
The traders’ associations in Chikkapete, Avenue Road, and SJP Road honoured the bandh call and almost all of their shops remained closed on Tuesday. Most shops and commercial establishments along Mysore Road remained closed the entire day.
A majority of shops and establishments across the city remained closed during the first part of the day. However, they slowly started opening as the afternoon turned to evening.
Public transport — both the BMTC and metro trains — was operational. However, as there were fewer travellers, the frequency and number of BMTC buses were reduced. Metro trains ran with lower-than-usual crowds even during peak hours.
Several IT and BT companies had directed their employees to work from home on Tuesday.
There were comparatively fewer vehicles — cabs and auto-rickshaws — on the roads on Tuesday.
Essential services like petrol bunks, medical shops, hospitals, nursing homes, and milk parlours remained open.
While the Bruhath Bangalore Hotels Association had declared that all establishments under it could remain open on Tuesday, many decided to remain closed to show their support for the bandh.
Schools and colleges remained closed the entire day.
Meanwhile, dramatic scenes were witnessed in some places where the agitators decided to vent their ire in various forms.
Mock funeral of Stalin in Karnataka & Siddaramaiah in Tamil Nadu
Ranging from a mock funeral ceremony of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin to the agitating farmers rolling on the ground as others whipped them, and shirtless farmers even swearing at the Karnataka government’s inability to stop the Cauvery water being sent to Tamil Nadu, the scenes were aplenty in the city.
Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, a mock funeral of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was also performed.
The videos of the ceremonies were posted on social media on Tuesday, and went viral in no time.
A farmer attempted to hang himself to death with his shawl from a tree in Freedom Park. However, the cops stationed there rescued him.
Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers’ Association’s President Kurbura Shanthakumar and his associates — seemingly angry with the police — were seen standing on a truck and addressing the agitating farmers at Freedom Park.
Soon, Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy joined Shanthakumar and took a memorandum from them, which he said he would place before the chief minister, who would discuss it in Delhi.
The agitating farmers also requested Ramalinga Reddy to release all the protestors who had been arrested on Tuesday and drop all the charges against them. The minister obliged.
Commissioner of Police (CP) B Dayananda told South First on Tuesday: “The Bengaluru bandh was peaceful on Tuesday, without any untoward incident. We have detained over 1,000 protestors and the prohibitory orders under section 144 will continue until midnight today.”
He added: “As the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) has once again decided to release water to Tamil Nadu, we have to assess the situation and impose further prohibitory orders if necessary for the Karnataka bandh on Friday.”
Screen grab of the Jayanagar restaurant violence video
Meanwhile, there were stray incidents of forced closures of eateries in South Bengaluru.
CCTV footage of a group of men, including one with a shawl wrapped around him, entering a busy hotel named Udupi Hub in Jayanagar and vandalising counters using a chair went viral on social media.
The same group of men also tried to forcibly close two other hotels — Natraj Channa Batoora and Annapurna Hotel.
The Jayanagar police inspector told South First that they had taken into custody around 20 men who were harassing commuters and hoteliers in the jurisdiction.
The owner of the Udupi Hub hotel apparently told the police that he would lodge a complaint, but he had not turned up to do so by late evening.
Meanwhile, a traffic policeman attached to the Yeshwanthpur sub-division, who was on bandobast duty, found a dead rat in his breakfast “pulav”.
Soon after, he informed his seniors, who flashed a message and instructed all the policemen to discard their breakfasts.
“A criminal case has been registered against a hotelier in Yeshwantpura and a departmental inquiry has been initiated on the police inspector who had placed the food order from the hotel,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) MN Anucheth told South First.
“The Health Department has sealed the hotel. Health inspectors have visited it, and are preparing a report to book the hotel staff even under the Food Safety Act,” he added.
