CHENNAI: The intelligence wing of the State police has said that members of 20 organisations had joined the jallikattu protests and were trying to divert the focus of the protests by indulging in “anti-national” propaganda. However, leaders of many of these organisations told Express that they participated in the protests but there was nothing in their actions that would amount to be termed as anti-national.
“On the first three days, the protest was dominated only the student community. But later members of a few other organisations entered the mob and changed the direction of the protest,” said a senior intelligence officer. The officer said that members of the May 17 Movement also propagated for the cessation of Tamil Nadu from the Indian union and was planning to prevent Republic Day celebrations.
“Our movement never spoke about such things. If the police intelligence says so, let them prove it. These are just their imagination,” said Thirumurugan Gandhi of the May 17 Movement. He said even the Dravidian leader Periyar termed the 1947 Independence from the British as a black day. “Was there any case filed against him for that?”
Islamist leader ‘Tada’ J Abdul Rahim, the State president of Indian National League, agreed that the person riding a scooter, in which Osama bin Laden’s portrait was printed, belonged to his organisation. However, he said the photo was taken in December during the protests against the Union government over the Zakir Naik issue. Police officers involved in investigating the matter said they had identified the person who owns by the scooter, were but yet to trace him.