Police Lathi Charged the Anti-CAA Protesters at Chennai

CAA protestors were arrested in Chennai while CAA supporters allowed  in Coimbatore:

CAA protests are spreading like wildfire across Chennai and Tamil Nadu now.  It is after the lathi-charge and arrest of 170 CAA protestors in Washermanpet in Chennai yesterday, February 14. Until now, more than 1,000  people are silently protesting in Washermanpet, Alandur, Mannady, Pudupet, and Triplicane. Police forces have been increased in these areas to avoid untoward incident.

But in Coimbatore BJP, CAA supporters took out a march flagged of by Pon. Radhakrishnan at RS Puram, remembering the bomb blast of 1998, which was not allowed for the past 21 years. It was now allowed by the police and Pon. Radhakrishnan even thanked them for supporting their march.

Yesterday afternoon, around 1,000 women started a peaceful protest near the pencil factory in Washermanpet in Chennai. It increased to more than 5,000 and was also obstructing the traffic near the busy Mint bridge area.

It brought the police to the spot, and it is alleged that the Joint commissioner Vijayakumari was hurt in the head along with a few other police personnel.  A video went viral in the social media of hundreds of police dragging a protestor and beating him up. More than 170 people were arrested from the spot. 

After the intervention of the city police commissioner, A K Viswanathan, the arrested people were released yesterday at 11:45 PM.  But still, protests continue peacefully in many parts of Chennai city with police on the vigil.

Many leaders spoke of the incident including

• Nellai Mubarak, state leader of SDPI or social democratic party of India: The Tamil Nadu government and the police should stop preventing peaceful protests conducted democratically
• Popular Front party, in its statement, said that the government should support democratic protests rather than stopping them.
• Seeman, Chief Organizer of NKT or Naam Tamilar Katchi: The attack on those who peacefully protested against CAA is unacceptable.
• Ravi Kumar MP of VCK or Viduthalai Chiruthai Katchi: Tamil Nadu is following Yogi Adityanath, the CM of Uttar Pradesh, in attaching the CAA protestors.
• H Raja, National Secretary of BJP: A police officer has been attacked, and such  CAA protests should be oppressed