CHENNAI: Fans who went to watch the one-day cricket match between India and Australia at the Chepauk stadium here were told they had no right to wear black.
The police and security guards at the entrance of M A Chidambaram stadium stopped people who were wearing black shirts or t-shirts. No explanation was given to people who questioned this sudden rule. Instead, they were given a choice to buy a new shirt from nearby shops and surrender the black shirts at the entrance. After the match, the black shirts were returned to them.
“It was not there in the initial conditions laid down by the police. But based on some intelligence inputs that some students might protest over the NEET issue, they decided to enforce this rule in the morning. Though a few protesters were stopped, a few others who inadvertently wore black also had to suffer. Once they changed shirts, the police allowed them inside,” said a TN Cricket Association official.
Apparently, the police decided not allow people in black into the stadium due to some social media campaigns asking spectators to wear black as a mark of protest over several issues Tamil Nadu is facing. This includes the imposition of NEET-based medical exams and petro-chemical projects in the delta region.
“I wore black by chance today,” said S Maharaja, a college student. “The authorities are taking it too far. Why should I spend money on another t-shirt to enter? I have tickets and nothing was mentioned about a dress code when I purchased it,” he said.The terms and conditions in TNCA’s ticket has no clause that can even be extended to justify such a restriction. It only bans bringing items like alcohol, camera, umbrella and food items (a few were even complaining about the exorbitant cost of `10 for a cup of water in the stadium). Like Maharaja, many other cricket fans had to shell a few hundred rupees, change into the jersey and leave their black shirts behind at the checkpoint.
“Sports teams wear black armbands as a mark of mourning. Why shouldn’t spectators be able to express themselves in the same way?” asked Dannie Britto, a student from Chennai, adding, “What can be a more peaceful form of registering a protest?”
Greatly disappointed with the incursion into their choice of clothing, some fans said the authorities were scared of being exposed.“The cricket match will be watched by people across the nation who might not watch news channels. The government appears to be wary of sensitised youth sending out a negative message,” said a youth who wished to be anonymous.While the t-shirts were returned to the spectators after the match, police allegedly chased away those who tried to document this. “I was chased away when I tried to click a picture of the black t-shirts being returned,” said Dannie Britto.