Tamil Nadu turns perennial state of protests

Chennai: If anything has marked Tamil Nadu from the rest of the country since Jayalalithaa's death, it's the string of protests the state has been subjected to by major political parties and fringe groups under one pretext or the other. 

What started with the Marina 'revolution' for Jallikattu in Jan 2017 has continued unabated, under different banners and for varying causes, ranging from tapping natural gas, attacks on fishermen, in support of farmers' demands and against NEET. The latest to join that list are the expansion of the Sterlite factory and the proposal to establish the Neutrino project in Theni district. In between there have been other protests against bus fare hike, laying pipes by GAIL, breaking of Periyar statue and the passage of Ram Rajya Rath in the Southern districts. 

On Monday the state witnessed protests against the Centre's failure to constitute the Cauvery Management Board before the Supreme Court deadline. Under the guise of agitating against the Centre's inaction, there seems to be a hidden agenda of unleashing violence and disrupting normal life. Whether ransacking a toll booth on a highway or pelting stones on Central government offices frequented by the public, the fringe parties appear to have taken the lead and remained unchallenged. Arrests are made and the arrested are released by evening. 

Even the DMK's sudden protests on Easter Sunday at Valluvar Kottam bordered on the irresponsible, as it only inconvenienced hundreds of church-goers rather than make any impact on the public. 

“What is the use of having a protest on a government holiday and on an important day for the Christians?  Whoever advised the DMK really goofed up,” said a furious Congress leader. When the DMK had already called for a statewide bandh on Cauvery, there was no need for an impromptu protest on Easter Sunday he pointed out. 

That many of the agitations are played out for the convenience of the news channels can be seen by the way the protestors wait for the arrival of TV cameras (after having alerted their offices) and then resorting to slogan shouting or stone pelting. 

The TRP hungry Tamil news channels also readily gobble up such footage and flash them continuously to score over rival channels. “If anything, the protesters and the news channels feed on each other,” admitted the head of a Tamil news channel.

In all these protests, one common thread has been the complete inaction of the police in controlling the protestors or preventing their violence. For example Velmurugan of the Thamizhar Vazhvurimai Katchi — which had failed to win a single assembly seat in 2016 — gets released even after he and his supporters ransacked and destroyed highway toll booths at Ulundurpet on Sunday. 

The police claimed that they have arrested 11 members of the party who actually destroyed the booths while releasing the remaining 267 protestors including Velmurugan who said that his party would spearhead the agitation of not paying toll in protest against Centre's insensitivity on Cau-
very. 

His supporters meanwhile celebrated on social media the violence at the toll gate saying that when it came to protesting the violent way, Velmurugan showed the way. Even in other parts of the state the police remained innocent bystanders as protestors blocked highways, sat on railway tracks and laid siege to Central government offices. 

Apparently the government has chosen to look the other way as if extending moral support to the spate of protests. But then, the ruling party itself is holding protest-fast for Cauvery through Tuesday, across Tamil Nadu.