Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan call for restraint by students
CHENNAI: Tamil stars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan on Monday expressed concern over the violence that erupted here in the backdrop of the jallikattu protests and called for restraint by the agitating students.
Rajinikanth said the protests by the students ‘should be etched in golden letters’ in Indian history and has drawn wide attention as people from various walks of life like youth and women had supported them and carried forward the dignified and peaceful protests. “At this juncture, I am grieved to see certain incidents,” he said in an apparent reference to the violence and the police crackdown.
Some protesters lined up at the seashore forming a human chain and a group entered the water refusing to heed police requests to disperse.
Some others staged a sitin on the sands while others regrouped in nearby areas, shouting slogans and allegedly throwing stones on policemen.
Police burst teargas shells and reportedly lathicharged to chase away a section of protesters who had regrouped at Triplicane near Marina beach and allegedly started throwing stones at police personnel.
The protesters had been demonstrating for the past one week demanding lifting of the ban on jallikattu.
Despite promulgation of an ordinance on Saturday for conducting the bull-taming sport, they had vowed to carry on with their protest till a permanent solution was found to ensure that the sport is held annually without any hindrance.
TV visuals showed men and women in khaki physically removing protesters from the beach. At Coimbatore, police forcibly evicted the protesters from VOC Park Grounds here where they were agitating for the last six days.
As the appeal made by senior officials to clear the grounds failed, police in large numbers started to bodily lift the protestors and shift them out of the venue.