Police raj

Midnight knocks on doors and wee-hour arrests of those who raise voices of dissent have virtually become the order of the day in Tamil Nadu of late.

IN Tamil Nadu today, any voice of dissent against the State government risks inviting stringent penal action. From activists, lawyers, academics, writers, journalists, students and mediapersons to the affected farmer or wronged citizen, anyone who dares to question the schemes and mega infrastructure projects being implemented by the present All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) dispensation led by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has been booked under various sections of law, from Section 147 (rioting) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to provisions of the National Security Act (NSA) and the sedition law. Even individuals who have never been linked to any organisation and those who choose to express their disenchantment with the State in general are not spared.

“The State has become intolerant to any criticism, soft or harsh,” says D. Ravikumar, general secretary of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK). The spate of arrests and detentions of protesters began with the jallikattu agitations across the State in 2017, followed by mass public protests against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and, later, over the Cauvery waters issue. Women and children were arrested when they staged peaceful protests against the hydrocarbon projects of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) at Kadiramangalam and Neduvasal in the Cauvery delta.

Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) founder-leader T. Velmurugan was arrested and lodged at Puzhal prison in Chennai on June 26

S. VANCHINATHAN, outside Palayamkottai prison on July 5 after he was granted bail. A lawyer, he was arrested on the charge of instigating the crowd during the anti-sterlite protest in Thoothukudi.

THE STUDENT ACTIVIST VALARMATHI arrested for protesting against the proposed eight-lane Salem-chennai greenfield express highway project.