Posted on 08/17/2002 11:54:18 AM PDT by dighton
MADURAI: For once, starving weavers in the State seemed to have enjoyed the limelight: They had the choice of satiating their appetite with either gruel or biriyani, offered by the two `warring' political parties.
But, the `grueling' politics associated with the `kanji thotti' and biriyani distribution functions have certainly put the Madurai police in the soup.
To make matters worse, the cops have had to contend with the violence that `broke out' between DMK and AIADMK functionaries in Sellur. And now, they have to bear the repercussions arising out of their actions in lathicharging and later arresting the DMK men. The DMK has presented a memorandum to the President of India to `intervene' in the issue.
Despite the ruckus and the dust kicked up, one thing comes out clear: City Commissioner of Police M V N Surya Prasad is here to stay. Unlike many of his predecessors who were given the marching orders in the face of such `political upheavals', Surya Prasad is in a relatively safe position. And this is the inference derived after various political leaders aired their opinions with this reporter.
And a top police officer avers by this. Almost every Madurai CoP has been transferred after the Temple City witnessed a `political unrest'. The then Commissioner Sekar was transferred during the DMK government soon after the arrest of former Deputy Mayor M Pandian on charges of `attempting to murder' a security personnel of Sourashtra Coop Bank, here. Another former CoP, Subramanian, was unceremoniously shifted in spite of his close association with a former DGP in the State.
Surya Prasad will never get a transfer on this issue, say political leaders here. However, they also had a volley of questions: Why did the police permit the AIADMK to host its `egg biriyani distribution' at a venue, that was uncomfortably close to that of the DMK's `kanji thotti' spot? Secondly, did the cops fail to gather intelligence about the trouble that was brewing. Many said that the police officers were not geared up to meet any eventuality and this accounts for the `intelligence failure'.
On August 9, tempers ran high when the DMK shouted slogans against the AIADMK supremo. Unable to digest the accusations, Madurai West MLA Valarmathi Jabaraj had reportedly goaded a police officer to ensure that their rivals stopped talking `nonsense'. ``Why should we stop serving biriyani? First, you (policemen) go and charge the DMK men,'' she reportedly told the police officer.
Spurred into action, Commissioner Surya Prasad ran to the other venue (just 100 mts away) and police personnel persuaded the DMK functionaries to stop serving the gruel. Former Speaker P T R Palanivelrajan among others offered to court arrest, but the situation got out of hand. The lathi-charge and stone-throwing incidents that followed ended in the arrest of 105 DMK men under charges of `attempt to murder', among others.
Cutting across party lines, many political leaders in Madurai have condemned the assault on DMK men. They sought to know why the AIADMK functionaries, who were instrumental in directing the police to stop serving the gruel, were not arrested.
``The AIADMK should do what Anna did __ sell the cloths produced by weavers,'' suggested BJP national secretary L Ganesan. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, on Wednesday, appealed to the cadres to take a pledge to establish Kamaraj rule in Tamil Nadu and thus put an end to gruel centres.
Weavers have begun to say that `kanji thotti' will become a definite feature of the State. But their plight will certainly not `move' Surya Prasad.
Lathicharging? How horrible. Thank God our Constitution forbids this.
An excellent question. Don't expect THEM -- Big Kanji Thotti and their shills -- to give a straight answer.
Extremely sloppy reporting. The world's record for running to another venue is well-known.
Why didn't this incompetent journalist give us some indication of Prasad's fleetness?
Mr. Naipaul, call your office.
What the hell is society coming to, when a DGP can't protect his/her/its CoP from shifting? The end is nigh, I tell you...
Why did the police permit the AIADMK to host its `egg biriyani distribution' at a venue, that was uncomfortably close to that of the DMK's `kanji thotti' spot?
A d*mn good question, and one that I think we all should demand an answer to.
``The AIADMK should do what Anna did __ sell the cloths produced by weavers,'' suggested BJP national secretary L Ganesan.
Well, duh. Any fool can see that...
Please, Sir, there are far worse things than lathicharging!
Please contact the
Anti-Rowdy Section,
Detective Department,
Lal Bazar,
Calcutta 700 001.
Tel: 215 5000
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