Damage limiting exercise: TN police say they too are Tamils

The Chennai City Police released yet another video showing a policeman saving an elderly man during the violence.
File (EPS| Prakash Chellamuthu)
File (EPS| Prakash Chellamuthu)

CHENNAI: The torrent of videos in social media purportedly showing policemen indulging in arson during the fag-end of the Jallikattu protests was surely something that caused lot of embarrassment to
the Tamil Nadu police. The videos showing policemen casually setting fire to vehicles and damaging the bikes have raised eyebrows on how brazenly the men in uniform can indulge in arson in broad day light and still get away with it.

But now in a delayed damage limiting exercise, the police officers seem to be taking the same route of circulating videos in the social media to highlight their side of the story. The videos and photos
being circulated by the police machinery in recent days, particularly highlight the injuries policemen and the damages to police properties suffered during the violence in the last day of the Jallikattu
protests.

Perhaps, the best of their brain-child was a video composed with title "Ivanum Tamilan Than" (He is also a Tamilian) and being circulated by some of the top police officers in social media since Saturday. Beginning with an AR Rahman's number (originally scored for Kollywood movie 'Bombay'), the video, full of edited clips, repeatedly shows the policemen who suffered injuries in the violence.

"He who came unarmed with trust on the Tamilian, why was he maimed," read one of the captions in Tamil running in the videos. And another caption, with an image of a person pelting stone, read these are
"Cunning fox in the guise of a cow."

But the video seemed to suggest that the previously circulated video showing a policemen setting fire to an auto was authentic. With an edited clip of the same, the new video runs a caption in a lamenting tone, which read, "The entire milk was spoiled because of this single drop of poison."

The video ends with yet another Rahman classic (originally scored for his debut film 'Roja'). In the end an injured police constable sleeping in a hospital bed appeals the people to not indulge in violence. "I am not asking this as a policeman, but as a Tamilian," he says. The video ends with a caption "He bears all this and will always be your guarding deity."

The Chennai City Police released yet another video showing a policeman saving an elderly man during the violence.

With the press briefings by senior police officers becoming almost a daily affair since the violence, two possibilities have emerged on videos showing policemen indulging in arson. On the day the videos emerged, city police commissioner S George suggested those could be morphed videos, but said it would be investigated. Another theory reported in newspapers quoting police officers was that "miscreants had rented police uniforms and indulged in such acts to bring ill-name to us."

The Chennai city police Facebook page  (https://www.facebook.com/Chennai.Police/) was active since the violence mainly with posts of images and videos showing policemen/women injured in the violence. But going by the comments in the Facebook page, not many are impressed by the posts.

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