Jallikattu protests. Pitched battles in Triplicane lanes, by-lanes

Triplicane, one of the old parts of Chennai, is known for its famous Parthasarathyswamy temple and is marked by lanes and by-lanes. It is also just across the road from the Marina beach.

This morning, in many parts of Triplicane, police and miscreants fought pitched battles, after the police attempted to evict protestors on the Marina beach against the ban on Jallikattu, the traditional bull-taming sport.

A number of two-wheelers outside a police station in the area were burnt down. One of the policemen on duty later said there were nearly 30 of them inside the police station when it happened and they broke through a window in the police station and escaped outside.

It was in the narrow lanes and by-lanes, that the cops fought a pitched battle with the locals. While miscreants pelted stones on the cops, the police in riot gear rained blows on whoever came within their range. In another area, there was a gang of nearly 50 boys, many of them in just their teens, with petrol in bottles, ready to light them and throw it at the cops. Each time a posse of policemen came towards them, they would run away and hide; this game of hide-and-seek went on for a large part of the afternoon till a senior police officer decided to permanently post a group of policemen in the area.

Women in the slums took their ire out on the media, accusing them of ignoring what they described as the unprovoked attack on them by the police while the police accused the local residents of hiding behind women and throwing missiles at them. In one area, police said, several women even mixed chilly powder in water and threw it at the cops.

All this happened even as a large gathering of the protestors on the Marina continued to stick to their stand that they would not budge till a permanent solution to their demand was found. They declined to identify themselves and would only say that none of them was “leading” the protest. They described the ordinance promulgated by the Tamil Nadu Governor last week as a sham and accused the Centre of washing its hands off the whole affair. The Centre has more powers than the State, then why is it not taking the initiative to resolve the issue, one of the agitators wondered.

Was not the ordinance the first step towards finding a permanent solution to the problem? They would believe it only if someone in a position of power came and showed them the piece of paper with a proper signature on it, said one of the agitators.

Another argued that if the Prime Minister could go on television and announce that ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes would no longer be legal tender (referring to the November 8, 2016 demonetisation announcement), why cannot he come on television and make a similar announcement about revoking the ban on jallikattu. But, how would that have any legal sanctity? He is after all the Prime Minister of the country, the agitator shot back.

The agitators started gathering on the Marina from January 17 and it became a full-fledged protest since then with thousands more joining the protest daily. The agitators said they were all college students. A couple of them, when asked what they were studying, said they had finished their studies about two years back and were searching for a job. One of them would only identify himself as Andrew, while the others declined to reveal their names.

In the crowd on the Marina, were protestors who held pictures of the late former President Abdul Kalam, while there were those who demanded a ban of even the Blue Cross organisation.

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