Vatal Nagaraj, President of the Kannada Okkuta, which has called for Karnataka Bandh over the inter-state Cauvery river water dispute, came out of his house wearing a burkha with an empty plastic water pot on his head on September 29, 2023. He said he was wearing a burqa because black signified protest and the empty water pot signified women’s struggle for drinking water during the ongoing cauvery struggle.
“We do not even have enough water for drinking purposes and Tamil Nadu is asking for water for agriculture. It is the women of the State who suffer the brunt of lack of drinking water. So I have worn a burqa to express my solidarity with these women and highlight the drinking water crisis looming over the state,” he said.
