
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Chennai, actor Kamal Haasan released a video on Twitter where he sought justice for Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery issue.
"People of Tamil Nadu are fighting for justice. Justice has been given but it is not being executed. People have started to believe that this delay is due to Karnataka elections, and your interest in it. I want this belief to be dispelled for people are more important than elections," Haasan said in his video.
"With your previous experiment with Narmada Water Authority, you could easily deliver the justice that Tamil Nadu is asking," Haasan said. "Please do justice with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka," he added in nearly 2-minute-long video.
Though the PM is in Chennai to inaugurate the DefExpo, political parties have chosen his visit as an occasion to stage protests over the Cauvery issue.
Since April 1, the state has been witnessing protests by political parties, pro-Tamil outfits, student groups and voluntary organisations seeking setting up of the Cauvery Management Board.
Last week, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth had said that Centre would earn the wrath of Tamil Nadu people if it fails to constitute the Cauvery Management Board on an urgent basis. Rajinikanth, along with other actors like Kamal Haasan, Dhanush, Vijay, Surya, Sathyaraj, Sivakumar, Nassar, Vishal, Karthi and Sivakarthikeyan took part in a day-long protest over demand for formation of the board.
The ongoing protests over the issue have led the shifting of Indian Premier League matches out of Chennai due to security reasons. Three policemen are attacked during an anti-IPL protest over the Cauvery issue on Wednesday after which the decision was taken to move all the matches from Chennai to Pune.
On February 16, the Supreme Court had raised the 270 tmcft share of Cauvery water for Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu's share while compensating it by allowing extraction of 10 tmcft groundwater from the river basin.
The court had granted six weeks time to the Centre to formulate a scheme to ensure compliance of its 465-page judgement on the decades-old Cauvery dispute, which modified the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award of 2007.
The six-week period ended on March 29.