CHENNAI: Three students were seriously injured in a violent caste clash that broke out between two groups of students at Ambedkar Law College on Wednesday.
The students waged a pitched battle, even as a posse of policemen waited outside the gates and news photographers clicked pictures.
Knives, iron rods, wooden logs and tubelights were freely used by the clashing students. The police remained silent spectators, waiting for a call from the college principal for help.
Tension has been running high inside the campus since October 30. According to police sources, a few Dalit students objected to the institution being referred to as just ‘government law college’ without the pre-fix ‘Dr Ambedkar’ in posters put up inside the campus by students from a caste Hindu community.
It degenerated into an ugly skirmish and police advised the principal to look into the matter and set up a peace committee. The efforts of the college authorities and the police to bring unity among the students were in vain.
Since it was the first year Dalit students who confronted seniors on the poster issue, the latter allegedly vowed not to allow them to sit for the examination.
On Wednesday, trouble started when the caste Hindu students tried to prevent freshers of the Dalit community from appearing for the semester examination.
As a group waited with lethal weapons inside the college to attack the junior students, a few seniors escorted them inside the examination hall. Suddenly, the armed group attacked the Dalit students. Chitirai Selvan (21), a fourth year student, sustained serious injuries in the ear and back of the head and was admitted at Stanley hospital.
A group of Dalit students retaliated.
In the attack, Arumugham (20), a third year student, was injured and brought in a semi-conscious state to Government General Hospital. Ayyadurai (20), a second year student, sustained injuries to his right hand, forehead and leg. A third year student, Bharathi Kannan, was injured in both hands, forehead and thigh.
Finally, the principal called the police, who rushed in and chased the students away.
The police filed a complaint with the police naming Gubendran, Ravindran, Chithiraiselvan, Manimaran, Vetrikondan, Prem Kumar and Ravi Verman. Three of them were taken into custody by the police.