CUDDALORE: A PhD student of Annamalai University has been detained by the police for allegedly instigating students, through his Facebook posts, to hold a protest in Chidambaram, where the university is located, on Thursday night.
This comes just after Valarmathi, a student of Periyar University, was booked under the Goondas Act by the police after she tried to gather support for the protests against the Neduvasal Hydrocarbon Project.
Similarly, A Kuberan (32) had posted a small write-up on his Facebook account in the morning of July 20, inviting the students of Annamalai University, where he is pursuing doctorate studies, to gather for a protest against what he termed as ‘state violence’ inflicted on citizens protesting an ONGC project at Kathiramangalam. His post also referred to the Neduvasal Project.
Kuberan wrote: “The ONGC project should be stopped at Kathiramangalam. Police force should be withdrawn from there. The government should immediately release arrested persons including Professor Jayaraman. The government should not portray the students’ and people’s protests for protecting our environment and resources as the terrorist acts. Methane and Hydrocarbon projects should not be allowed into Tamil Nadu.”
His post also appealed to the students of Annamalai University to boycott classes on July 20 and gather at a particular spot at 10 am.
Kuberan is pursuing PhD (Sociology) at Annamalai University. He is active in the Tamil Dhesiya Periyakkam, a Tamil nationalist movement headed by P Maniarasan.
Annamalai Nagar police took Kuberan to the police station and arrested him under section 7(1)(a) of Criminal Law Amendment Act. Kuberan has been lodged in Cuddalore central jail.
Condemning the arrest, Maniarasan, in a statement, said, “The police have portrayed the act of appealing to students to gather at a place for a protest as instigation of violence. Article 19 of the Constitution protects the right regarding freedom of speech. It allows people to assemble peaceably and without arms. The Tamil Nadu government is taking away this right. We condemn this undemocratic action of the government. The Chief Minister should order the release of Kuberan immediately.”