Music director-turned-television anchor James Vasanthan has propped up a novel idea to elicit international attention to the on-going Cauvery protests across the State.  He has asked cricket-crazy Chennaiites to stay away from Chepauk Stadium when it hosts the first of the several matches during the current Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament to make the stadium look ‘absolutely empty’.

“This may not be easy for all to digest but I have an idea: let’s make the 50,000-odd capacity M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk as an ‘empty house’ by controlling our cricketing interests and the urge to visit the Stadium and back the home team of ‘Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

“Only such a measure would draw international attention to the Cauvery issue which has led to widespread protests across the State as the Centre has taken us (Tamil Nadu) for a ride in (not) setting up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) to ensure proper water-sharing by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.  By sacrificing our cricketing instincts for a day, we can make our protests popular across the globe.

“Matches are watched by audiences across many countries and the international pressure on the BJP-led Centre would work in our favour.  It’s not merely the problem of Tamil farmers or Tamils: it’s the livelihood issue of lakhs of people as lack of water would not only affect food production but the whole economy of the State and the country.  The players, the tournament, etc. won’t be affected by our protest,” a statement by James Vasanthan said.