Experts slam former judge Markandey Katju for comments on Cauvery dispute, Karnataka

Bengaluru: Justice Markandey Katju, a former Supreme Court judge and former Chairman of the Press Council of India, shot himself in the foot again by posting a derogatory message on his official Facebook account on Sunday night.

In the post, he referred to Kannadigas as descendents of Hanuman’s Vaanar Sena and Tamilians as ‘Rakshashsas’ and poked fun at the sensitive Cauvery issue. He said that Kannidigas must douse their tails with petrol and conduct ‘surgical strikes’ against Tamilians, just like Hanuman committed arson against Lanka.

The post at the end had a cheeky apology saying Kannadigas and Tamilians should not behave like Biharis or Odias and file cases against him.

A prominent Kannada journalist and writer, Lakshmana Kodase, said, “This man has no knowledge about Karnataka or its history. Kannadigas are a very harmonious people who get along with all.”

Using the example of Reverend Ferdinand Kittel, Mr Kodase said, “Rev. Kittel produced the first Kannada-English dictionary in 1894. He would not have been able to accomplish that if Kannadigas were not harmonious people. Mr Katju needs to stop ranting and raving on things he has no clue about.”

Insisting that Karnataka had many individuals who made a difference to the country, Mr. Kodase asked, “Can you compare Narayan Murthy or Nandan Nilekani to a ‘Bandar’? It is an absolute shame that Mr. Katju goes about putting his foot in his mouth.”

The ‘Songs of the Cauvery’ author Kalyanraman Durgadas said, “Somebody has lost perspective. Cauvery as a river is a resource that is not exclusively Karnataka’s or Tamil Nadu’s. It is a river that belongs to the whole of South India.”

Writer K. Marulasidappa said, “A 70-year-old retired judge should not make comments like these. We must take it humourously. It is not befitting of his age nor his status to make such comments.”