‘Stop spreading venom’: Arvind Swami, RJ Balaji, Siddharth bat for peace on IPL-Cauvery

After IPL matches were moved from Chennai following attacks on fans and security threats, the actors have appealed for peace.

Flix Cauvery water dispute

The discontent over the Centre’s reluctance in setting up the Cauvery Management Board has angered the state of Tamil Nadu. With political parties, celebrities from the film industry, and protesters targeting the IPL, the matches have been moved out of the city.

However, not everyone is on the same page about the move to involve the IPL in the protests. Actor RJ Balaji, who has been vocal about several social issues in the past, has slammed those who are justifying violence as a way of protest.

Asking if those who protested and got the IPL moved out of Chennai would also ensure that the Cauvery Management Board is set up, Balaji took on YouTube channels and online portals which were allegedly fanning the flames. Stating that such people “shamelessly” monetised even these videos about the protests and spoke with “half-baked knowledge”, Balaji asked them to stop “spreading venom”.

Now IPL is shifted,ppl who wanted national attentn,got tat right?Ipo Cauvery Management Board vandhurum la.Only thing thy managed to do is to divert attention frm cauvery to cricket to https://t.co/4QTZ8SBLxm sensible Tamizhan wil supprt thse unruly manipulative selfish methods. — RJ Balaji (@RJ_Balaji) April 11, 2018

Now all those who protested violently against a sport and managed to shift the venue and consider that as success, better make sure that you get the cauvery management board set up too. Mudiyuma. ? https://t.co/9V07ww3msz — RJ Balaji (@RJ_Balaji) April 11, 2018

And all you online portals and youtube channels spreading hatred, trigger/divide people, threaten saying that a bottle of petrol is enough to burn and shamelessly monetise even those protest videos,stop spreading venom for ur personal gains with half baked knowledge on issues. — RJ Balaji (@RJ_Balaji) April 11, 2018

Actor Siddharth also spoke up on the need to be united as Tamilians and attacked the divisiveness that had crept into the narrative. Asking people to focus on the Cauvery Management Board and putting the onus on PM Modi, Siddharth said, “Tamils telling Tamils they are not Tamils is a shame!”

It we focus on #CMB, with the Supreme Court saying the same thing, the onus is on PM #Modi to respond. Let the center see #TN as one group asking for the same thing. #Tamils telling Tamils they are not Tamils is a shame! Same shame as #Indians calling Indians anti-Indian. Same! — Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth) April 12, 2018

Actor Arvind Swami put up a poem on how “political aspirants” were fighting within a country in violent ways, forgetting that freedom was “won through peace”.

In a reference to those who attacked Chennai Super Kings fans, Arvind Swami wrote: “The wise ones ideating forms of protest and preaching/ To mobs they cannot control/ So you hit yellows and khakis…”

Stating that he was thirsty for “sanity”, the actor declared that he could not drink water from a river that flows red.

Music composer James Vasanth and director Bharathiraja were among the first from the Tamil film industry to call for a boycott of the IPL in Chennai to register protest against the Centre’s stance on the Cauvery issue.