Osama pics in stir proof of separatists’ presence: O Paneerselvam

Paneerselvam said that the government had photographic evidence of protestors displaying pictures of slain jihadist Osama Bin Laden and placards stating that they would denigrate Republic Day while providing a detailed report on police action on the recent protests in the Assembly. 

“They even had placards saying that I was dead,” he said. Responding to Opposition leader Stalin’s charge of police using excessive force, he said though original jallikattu leaders including Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, Ambalathu Arasar, Hip Hop Tamilzha Adhi and Raajasekaran called on protesters to end the agitation as the ordinance and later the law signalled victory, anti-national and anti-social elements who had infiltrated the protesters had converted the peaceful protest into a violent one. Police used restrained force and fired tear gas to disperse 12,500 protestors from 76 locations in Chennai. 

Paneerselvam said 10,000 protesters left the Marina after persuasion by police but 2,000 stayed. It was then that anti-socials pelted stones at the police and threw Molotov cocktails into the Ice House police station setting it on fire leading to 31 two-wheelers, two four-wheelers and an auto rickshaw being burnt. At Nadukuppam, problem started when agitators stoned the police. 

In the Chennai protest, 142 police personnel and 138 protesters were injured. Chennai violence saw 66 cases being registered and 215 persons being remanded to custody. Another 114 cases were registered for blocking road and rail traffic, he added. It was only after such efforts that rail connectivity between Chennai and the southern districts was restored, Paneerselvam averred. In the rest of the Tamil Nadu, 146 cases were registered.

Some activists brought up the problem of anti-social elements well before the protests turned violent which raises the question of why the police did not act upon the information and weed out the trouble-makers. Even more pertinent, Hip-Hop Tamizha Adhi, who was one of the pillars of the protest at Marina, made a public speech announcing that he is leaving the movement after pictures of Osama Bin Laden cropped up in the protest at Coimbatore, yet there was no action taken. Several activists who were part of the peaceful protest, raised the following questions, following the CM’s clarification on the matter in the Assembly.

The jallikattu events at Alanganallur and Palamedu which were planned on February 1 and 2 have been postponed by a week. The dates will be confirmed after the orgainising committee members meet Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.  A meeting between Madurai Collector, K Veera Raghav Rao, and members of the jallikattu organising committees of Alanganallur and Palamedu was conducted at Madurai collectorate on Friday. The committee members informed the Collector that they had decided to postpone the event by a week. as they needed more time to make special arrangements. They also claimed that they will meet the Chief Minister on Monday to invite him to be part of the event.