Silvester D’ Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (EP)
Kundapur, Sep 17: Manjunath Kulal, who was severely assaulted by Tamilians for saying that Kaveri river belongs to Karnataka, returned to Kundapur.
“I told that Cauvery belongs to Karnataka when forced by Tamil organization activists to say that Cauvery belongs to Tamil Nadu. The activists got annoyed and assaulted me with hand and stick. They broke vehicle wind shield and head lights with the stick”, said vehicle driver Manjunatha Kulal who faced heinous inhuman attack by Tamil organization in Tamil Nadu.
Manjunath arrived safely in Kundapur on September 17 and got himself admitted to Kundapur private hospital for treatment.
“We went on South India excursion by Archie Coelho’s Swaraj Mazda tempo trax with another ten people including my parents and others in the afternoon on September 9. We stayed in the guest house near Rameshwaram J J Park on September 11 night. While others went to the temple the next day morning, Archie Coelho remained in the Lodge. I was near the vehicle. By then the commotion had started. Karnataka registered vehicles and Kannadigas were being targeted. They attacked me and damaged the vehicle forcing me to say that Cauvery belongs to Tamil Nadu. They kept a heavy stick on my shoulder and hit my ear. There were traffic police nearby, but they did not come to our rescue,” he said.
During attack in Tamil Nadu
“The people in the lodge came to help us. When we said that we will complain to the police, they said that it is not necessary and that they will send us back to our home town safely. When our luggage was being loaded in the rickshaw at about 6.30 pm, the auto driver who heard us speaking in Kannada threw our luggage out. There was so much anger against Kannadigas there. MP Shobha Karandlaje helped us a lot. Ten of us returned through train via Kerala on Wednesday. Archie Coelho and I, in order to bring back the vehicle started from Bengaluru and reached here this morning,” he added.
“Kundapur police have helped us. They have come in the morning to the hospital and obtained details. I will be taking further action with help from legal experts. As shoulder pain has started again, I have come to the hospital. X-ray has been taken and ENT specialists will conduct further tests,” he said.
“I was in the 1st floor of the guest house when the incident happened. I was not wearing shirt then. Therefore I could not rush to the car. The incident has caused us a loss of more than Rs 40,000. Besides that we have faced anxiety and agony,” said Archie Coelho.