Chennai: Music director Adhi withdraws from protests

Chennai: Musician hip-hop Adhi, one of the prime movers behind the jallikattu protests, backed out of the agitation on Sunday citing the presence of “anti-national” elements, but vowed to back the sport.

Alleging that the movement was “losing steam and veering off its desired path”, he cited instances like burning of the national flag and targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I will not aid such anti-India activities,” the composer of the ‘Takaru Takaru’ song said in a video message, adding that some protesters even raised “separate Tamil Nadu slogans” as well. 

Adhi said he was ‘hurt’ by such incidents and insisted that a good initiative was ‘losing direction’. “The problems of Tamils should be addressed, but at the cost of what?” he asked and added that giving a completely different colour to the protest was ‘not acceptable’ to him. 

“I do not know what happened but I am backing off,” he said. Adhi said he himself was the owner of a bull and had been affected by the ban on jallikattu, adding that he continued to support the bull-taming sport. His comments come at a time when some on the social media have started questioning the rationale behind the protesters’ insistence on continuing with their agitation (in its sixth day today) despite Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam’s assurance that his government’s ordinance for conducting the sport will pave the way for a permanent solution.