NGO accuses police of stopping indoor meets

While the organisation had organised ‘Know Your Rights’ programme, an indoor event, at Purasawalkam on Saturday, the venue owners refused to give the space in the last minute claiming that police allegedly warned them. Though the event was rescheduled on Sunday at a different hall in the same locality, they, too, allegedly backtracked alleging police intervention. 

When contacted, Jayaram Venkatesan of the NGO told DT Next that it was a case of arm-twisting by police. “There is no provision in the law to get police permission for indoor meetings. Moreover, ‘Know Your Right’ is a regular awareness programme which we conduct at every ward during weekends. This is to enlighten citizens how to handle civic issues, where to get their grievances recorded and how to register complaints. If police say this is wrong, we would continue to do it and expose police,” he said.

Jayaram said that he also spoke to police officers, who allegedly told him that they only inquired the venue owners about the validity of their licences. “It looks clear that police have been instructed to stop such events. Even for the protests, we had to move the court to get permission, while ruling party members can do a flag parade in front of the Secretariat without any permission,” he added.