Jallikattu protesters seek Chief Minister intervention

City police officials led by Additional Commissioner (South), K Shankar was trying to pacify the protesting crowd, who had by then switched on the mobile phone torches as night had set in. About 3,000 young men and women gathered at the Marina. 

Police said there was no move to arrest and remove them from the spot. About 1,000 policemen have been deployed in the area and police are taking all precautions to avoid any law and order situation even as ‘news’ about some protesters attempting suicide in the southern districts was being circulated on WhatsApp. 

Senior police officials said that they were trying to reason with the protesting crowd as the order was issued by the Supreme Court and the state was powerless to intervene in the matter. Meanwhile, support for the protesters has been gaining ground with top film personalities like Vijay and Suriya lending their support for jallikattu in the state. 

The protests began on Tuesday morning when hundreds of young men and women converged on the Marina to protest the police action against the sport’s supporters at Alanganallur near Madurai. The protesting youth found support from DMK working President M K Stalin who met them at the Marina and expressed his ire at the police handling of protesters at Alanganallur. 

Later, Stalin took up the issue with Tamil Nadu Director General of Police, TK Rajendran. He said the protests were voluntary and that the issue had found all-round support among the people of the state. At the time of going to print, there was no official word that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Paneerselvam would either visit the site of the protest or issue any official statement on the matter.