Youth take centrestage in Alanganallur protest

The protest began early in the morning at around 7 am and as time passed the number of protesters swelled. They began raising slogans for permission to conduct jallikattu and also against PETA. They protested use of Pepsi and Coca Cola. They tried to tell people to drink fresh juice and tender coconut which are naturally available. 

Earlier five temple bulls were brought to the spot but were not allowed to go to the enclosure gates to offer special prayers. Police refused permission citing the Palamedu incident on Sunday, where similarly bulls were released from the enclosure gate. So, all the five bulls were taken to the Muthalamman Temple and then taken away. When the protests were going on, local youths brought a jallikattu bull into the ground and let it loose. 

It began running all over and this caused ripples of excitement among the protesters. They began shouting and though policemen tried their best to stop the bulls they could not. But as the animals became tired they were caught easily. 

Following the incident there was tension for a brief period but protests continued. They burnt the effigy of PETA and shouted slogans against the organisation. When leaders from All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA) participated, the protesters raised slogans against them and said they did not want any political party to participate in the protests.

In the meantime, police had fortified Alanganallur, on Monday. Checkposts were setup in all the directions even as far as 20 km from Alanganallur. People were stopped at Sikkender Chavadi and Umachi Kulam enroute to Alanganallur from Madurai. 

As it was Kaanum Pongal day people intended to buy mutton on the day but were not allowed. Similar check posts were set up in Alanganallur too and even the people of Alanganallur who had gone out for buying things outside the village were not allowed back into the village and they were seen fighting in the check posts. 

Similarly the streets of Alanganallur were sealed and women were not allowed to move inside the village. Though the police tried various measures to stop the protest the protesters stood firm on their ground and refused to leave the site. In the evening at 5 pm when the Alanganallur Jallikattu committee tried to end the protests the youth did not budge. 

When police force was mobilised youth began raising slogans against the police. More and more women from Alanganallur participated in the protests which made even lathi charge a tough job for the police.

Police who were deployed in and around Alanganallur unleashed a brutal attack on the residents of Pudhupatti village near Alanganallur as they were caned mercilessly, on Monday.  Alanganallur was turned into a fortress. Neither were people from neighbouring villages allowed inside nor were those from Alanganallur allowed to go outside. Streets connected to the Vadivasal (enclosure gate) were blocked. More than 1,000 people from Pudhupatti marched towards Alanganallur with four bulls initially. Though the policemen tried stopping them at various points they could not succeed in stopping two out of the four. People marched towards the enclosure gate with the two bulls with the sole motive of releasing the animals. When they approached the gate, the police personnel stopped them and began a lathi charge. Following the attack, people ran helter skelter but were chased and beaten brutally. Even women and children were not spared. Following the lathi charge tension prevailed in the main roads of Alanganallur and youth protested near the enclosure gates. Some of the injured were taken away in a police vehicle. The two bulls were seized and taken to Alanganallur Police station. Speaking to reporters, Madurai SP, Vijeyendra Bidari, said that the crowd had exceeded 1,000 people and they also breached the barricades.