Madurai:The Madurai police on Friday detained BJP Mahalir Morcha functionaries and cadres for attempting to take out a rally without police permission, protesting against the sexual assault of a student on Anna University campus. The police action kicked up strong protest by the BJP leaders as the party functionaries were detained in a marriage hall, a part of which is a goat shed.
Tamil Nadu BJP's women's wing had called for a mass rally from Madurai to Chennai seeking justice for the victim of the sexual harrassment on the Anna university campus. Despite the police denying permission for the rally, around 300 women cadres and functionaries of the BJP Mahila Morcha led by state president Umarathi, BJP national executive member Kushbu Sundar and C. Saraswathi, MLA, gathered at the Simmakkal Chellathamman temple in Madurai on Friday morning.
The protestors shouted slogans against the state government, alleging that it was trying to cover up the crime as the prime accused is a DMK man. The protestors tried to go on a yathra to Chennai. However, the police picked up all the 300 women cadres and functionaries including Ms Kushbu, who complained that by not permitting the BJP women take up the Yathra for justice, the DMK-led state government acted against the principles of democracy.
Ms Kushbu said the police went door-to-door and arrested BJP women cadres so as to prevent them from participating in the rally that was planned up to Chennai, via Dindigul, Tiruchy and Vilupuram from the Chellathamman temple at Simmakkal in MAdurai.
The arrested women including their leaders were kept at a private marriage hall. The hall owned by Yadavar community Mahamai has a goat shed, where around 100 goats and sheep were kept along with cattle fodder, she alleged. The inhuman act of the police reflected the attitude of the DMK government towards women safety and dignity, she said.
Rally created traffic jam: min
Minister for HR & CE P.K. Sekar Babu on Friday clarified that the police stopped the BJP protest rally against the alleged rape on the Anna University campus as it disrupted traffic movement and caused chaos on the roads leading to students, office-goers, travelers and others unable to reach their destinations on time.
He asked the media if any of the protesters had been charged with any offence and arraigned in court. They were only being removed from the scene to facilitate the return of normalcy that was needed for people to go about their lives.
Otherwise, people would miss flights, trains, buses, offices and classes if the protests were allowed to continue causing traffic disruptions and chaos on the roads, he said.
