விமானத்தில் மேலே மட்டும் பறக்கும் நீங்கள், கீழே எங்கள் உணர்வுகளின் அடையாளமாய் கருப்புக் கொடி அசைவதை பாருங்கள், உடனடியாக உச்ச நீதிமன்றத்தில்...

DMK working president M.K. Stalin on April 12, 2018, took a sharp aim at Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he arrived in Chennai by air, urging him to look down from his aircraft and witness the sea of black flags waving across Tamil Nadu. Stalin stated that the black flags represented the wounded sentiments and simmering anger of millions of citizens betrayed by central negligence on the Cauvery river dispute.

He demanded that the Prime Minister immediately direct the Union law ministry to withdraw its clarification petition filed in the Supreme Court, which sought further delays in creating the mandated water-sharing scheme. Stalin cautioned that treating judicial directives with casual evasiveness had inflamed public outrage, turning black attire into a fire of democratic resistance that would not easily subside.

Stalin emphasized that democratic governance required central leaders to listen to the grievances of federal units rather than avoiding street-level realities through aerial transportation. He asserted that the DMK and allied organizations would sustain their agitation until a fully empowered Cauvery Management Board was established to safeguard agricultural livelihoods. He warned that the public agitation would intensify until all constitutional demands were fulfilled.