Jallikattu: Evicted from Marina beach, protesters to boycott Republic Day

Agitators weren't too pleased with ordinance route and sought a permanent solution to the issue

The police early Monday morning forcefully evacuated the students who had been protesting at Chennai’s Marina beach, demanding that the ban imposed on bull-taming sport Jallikattu be permanently lifted.

The protesters, meanwhile, threatened to venture into the sea if the police marched forward and said they would boycott the Republic Day celebrations. Over the past six days, about 1,000 to 1,500 protesters had moved from the main road to the coast.

The evacuation move, which started as early as at 5:30 am on Monday, came two days after a new ordinance introduced by the Tamil Nadu government to lift the ban on Jallikattu received approvals from the Centre and the President. The state government said it had done its part through a state-level ordinance. The protesters, however, were not too pleased with the ordinance route and sought a permanent solution to the issue.

A similar evacuation exercise was seen in Dindigul and Ariyalur, while in Coimbatore the police's talks with protesters seemed to yield no result. Minister S P Velumani and the police commisioner had to escape from the Codissa grounds, after protesters became violent and started pelting stones. 

 

The situation turned violent in Madurai, too, after the police declared most of those protesting were not even students and gave the crowd five minutes to disperse. Clashes between the two sides were reported.

In Trichy, Nellai, Theni, Tirivallur and Sivakasi, protesters have withdrawn their agitation. In fact, protesters and the police thankked each other in Trichy for the cooperation during demonstrations. 
 
In Alanganallur, a key area and known for the Jallikattu sport, protesters said they would not withdraw. A police team has been holding talks with senior members from the villages to pursude them to withdraw. 

Over the past six days, thousands of protesters had choked the Marina beach, even as the key campaigners conceded the protest had served its purpose at this point and anti-social elements had been trying to hijack it. P Rajasekaran, Karthikeya Sivasenapathy and others of Hip Hop Tamizha Aadhi had called for the protest to be withdrawn now.
 
“The ordinance has come and we should give the government some time. We should postpone the protest for now,” said Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, ex-managing trustee, Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation. While thanking the students for their support, T Rajesh of the Verea Vilayattu Meetpu Kazhagsm asked for the protest to be called off.
 
The evacuation move of the police has come on a day the Tamil Nadu Assembly is meeting in Chennai. The Jallikattu Bill is also expected to be tabled in the Assembly on Monday. All routes to the Marina beach have been cut off. The Marina beach is a key access road to the Assembly which the protesters had been blocking. The police told the protesters that they were successful in their campaign, handed them a copy of the ordinance, and asked them to withdraw their protest.

Even as the protesters sought one more day to withdraw their demonstration, the police did not yield.

Meanwhile, Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) working president MK Stalin asked the ruling AIADMK not to use force against the protesters and urged Chief Minister O Panneerselvam to meet the protesting students.