Tamil Nadu protesters were not convinced with the ordinance and some wanted to see a permanent solution and chose to stay back Chennai burned because of the bullheadedness of police and protesters
A week-long ‘peaceful’ protest in Tamil Nadu met a violent end on January 23, when incidents of violence, arson, stone-throwing, vandalism and police lathicharge were reported from the state. Since the sit-ins began, the protesters (mostly students and professionals) were lauding the groups across states for maintaining peace and silence in their protests to lift the Jallikattu ban.
In the morning, hours before the state legislative assembly could do something, news of clashes and riots began to filter in. With news of the ordinance being passed trickling in, many of the protesters left and police were mainly just trying to govern the peaceful dispersal of the crowds at Marina Beach and other places in the city.
That is when all hell broke loose.
Who is to blame Police or public?
Videos, testimonies have fast flown in through social media networks which blame the police for the whole chaos. Videos of men in police uniform using the baton mindlessly and indulging in violence have emerged. It is yet to be determined if these were the real forces or people dressed up like them.
Bloodied faces of protesters are filling the social media and as usual public are quick to form an opinion that it was the police who is responsible for this. You have celebrities like Kamal Haasan questioning the alleged police violence against peaceful pro-Jallikattu protesters. The question then arises, how did the Ice House police station and vehicle catch fire? How did more than 20 police personnel sustain injuries?
The answers will be difficult to find, as each section will blame the other. It can be assumed that the police resorted to using the baton and tear gas when they saw the situation getting out of hand. A potential riot situation was developing and the police used force to dissolve that. This move could have been hasty in many places which made the crowd react as well.
On the part of the protesters, like there are bad eggs in every basket, the arson, vandalism, destruction of Pepsi and cola carrying vehicles were carried by a section of people who used this as an opportune moment to cause chaos and trouble. Unfortunately, caught in the melee were police who were forced to get things under control and the innocent protesters who were at the receiving end of the baton.
While only a section of Chennai was burning, slowly as news spread, other anti-social elements got wind of it and charged up the atmosphere of their respective areas, throwing stones at the police disrupting the peace and generally inconveniencing the public by burning vehicles and stopping public transport.
The political possibility:
The question now comes, who gave the orders to the police? It is but assumed that the state government has the power to do so and the police were acting under the charges given to them by the AIADMK government. Already the Panneerselvam government is not in the good books of the public. Rumours are flying fast that the government ordered this crackdown on the protesters because of the humiliation the CM had to undergo when the public stopped him from inaugurating the Madurai Jallikattu celebrations. DMK is wasting no time in blaming the police and the CM for the matters at hand. Meanwhile, AIADMK has let known that they have a sneaky suspicion that it was DMK goons at work, trying to create a ‘political’ issue out of the whole thing and pin the blame on AIADMK.
The end result
Chennai burned because of the bullheadedness of police and protesters. If the protesters had gone home peacefully once their objective was achieved, probably the situation would not have come to pass. The police on the other hand, could have exercised restraint before taking out the baton.
Already in police in the country have a bad reputation for being the ‘goondas of the state’, police brutality in clashes in Hyderabad, the Delhi protests etc. are still fresh in the memory of the public and such an incident just served to make them even more hated.
History has shown us that even if a protest begins on a peaceful note someone else, another protest group, or the police may have a different viewpoint. Obeying police direction when the time comes is always a wise step to take in such cases. This was a disaster waiting to happen because of the politically charged atmosphere and the because of the issue involved.
