With the colleges in the city declared a holiday as the Jallikattu entered into the fourth day of its protest, the non-Tamilians decided to head home till the simmering situation across the state calms down.
One such student who boarded a train to his hometown in Tirupati recalls his ordeal as he was left waiting before Arakonnam. Kamal, a student of human genetics in Chennai started for his hometown at 6.25 AM in Sapthagiri Express. The train which on a normal day reaches its destination by 9 AM has not even crossed the Tamil Nadu border.
“It has been eight hours since the train has stopped at Tiruvanlgadu near Arakonam. There’s no food or water. There are also many senior citizens around me. The train has been stopped at each station. I don’t know when we will reach,” says a tired Kamal.
Another passenger from Mathura requesting anonymity and on his way to the pilgrimage said, “It has been ten hours and there’s absolutely no sign of any movement. We were supposed to reach at 9.30 am and it’s already 2.40 pm. We had special darshan ticket for 3 PM, and there’s no way we can make it there. Where are we supposed to go, the entire stretch is jammed and kept. The administration must do something about it.”
A student in the city and a native of Hyderabad said, "Yes, it's a serious issue, but this is not the way to protest. No one seems to know hat they are doing. Here we are left to suffer without any food and water. There are so many senior citizens with us. What if there is some kind of emergency? This is no way to create so much inconvenience for people. If you want to get the government's attention, you should sit in front of their house not stop trains".
A businessman from Kanpur Sanjeev Saxena said,"I am on my way to the darshan. Our train has been stopped by the protesters. It has been 6 to 7 hours and neither the police or the railway police have taken any action. Everybody is tensed and troubled and there is no arrangement for food and water. All the passengers have come down on the tracks and we don't know when we will reach.