CHENNAI: Deepavali arrived 10 days early to the southern suburb of Chitlapakkam. Residents welcomed the two activists who were jailed after they questioned certain irregularities in the panchayat’s flood mitigation project, by bursting crackers in front of Varadharaja Theatre on Friday.
With the ‘10,000 wala’ bringing traffic to a standstill at the junction, a few commuters descended from their vehicles to embrace the men of the moment — Kumarasubramaniam and Balachander. The two were released from Central Prison, Puzhal, on conditional bail earlier that morning after spending five nights. “These men are real heros and the entire community owes them gratitude for not backing down,” said a resident who stopped to congratulate the duo, on his way to work.
Ironically, sweets were distributed and slogans were raised by the gathering in front of an AIADMK banner thanking Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam for the cut-and-cover project at Chitlapakkam.
Speaking to Express, Balachander and Kumarasubramaniam said they were surprised by how well they had been treated by their fellow prisoners. “They knew we were inside for questioning irregularities in a government project at Chitlapakkam,” said Kumarasubramaniam.
“We thought only those who commit murders are respected in jails,” said Balachandar claiming that prisoners have special respect for social activists. “They tried to make our stay as comfortable as possible,” he said, encouraging fellow activists not to worry about threat of imprisonment.While the jail clearly seems to have taken a physical toll on both, who were dishevelled, their spirits did not seem to have weakened.
“I just worried about the people at home who would be worrying about me and could not eat,” said Balachander, taking photos with his friends, who were jokingly referring to him as ‘accused’.Activists from local NGO Chitlapakkam Rising claimed the whole ordeal had been a wake-up call.
“We made it a point not to bow down to the government and the quick release of our activists is sign that public voice will be heard by the judiciary and that good will triumph over evil,” said Lakshmi, an organisation volunteer, extending thanks to political parties and other activist groups such as Arappor Iyakkam that had come out in support over the last few days.