CHENNAI: The meeting scheduled this evening at the Marina Beach for the formation of a new political party did not happen with the Chennai police deploying nearly 2,000 cops along the beach and imposing section 144 of CrPC -- prohibiting assembly of people, other than for the recreational purposes.
Since Sunday morning, a large number of police personnel were deployed along the beach after a popular Facebook page had called for a public meeting for the formation of a new "Youth Party of Tamil Nadu." Nearly 43,000 people had shown interest in the event and 16,000 had said they are participating.
Initially, the police issued advisories asking people not to assemble in such large numbers and stated that such assemblies should be arranged only at certain designated places. On Saturday, a prohibitory order was issued by the Chennai city police commissioner S George under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The Facebook page, ''A change - Tamil Nadu 16th Assembly under students control with new system", that had scheduled a discussion meet for the "New Youth Party of Tamil Nadu" at the Marina on Sunday 3 PM. The event was inspired by the recent massive pro-Jallikattu protests that succeeded in bringing thousands of people to Marina Beach through social media and finally compelling the state government to bring a new law to enable Jallikattu events despite the Supreme Court's ban.
However, on Saturday, the administrators of the Facebook page posted saying the event has been cancelled citing security and safety of the participants. The group has also posted that their identities will be revealed at the right time and admitted that the group consists of students, IT professionals, businessmen, doctors and other youngsters.
When contacted, a senior police officer said the any such assemblies are generally banned in Marina. “So far, we are not allowing any procession or public gathering at the stretch and we are keeping a track on the next place they are deciding on to conduct their meeting,” he added.
A procession by RSS at the Marina Beach, scheduled at 4.15 PM later in the evening, has also been shifted to Rajarathinam Stadium at Egmore.