CHENNAI: Several persons with disabilities (PwDs) were allegedly manhandled by the police during a protest demanding the state government to increase the financial assistance for PwDs, in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday. The incident triggered outrage from activists and political parties.
Among those manhandled was Jhansi Rani, who has locomotor disability, and is also the general secretary of Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers (TARATDAC), which organised the protests. She has been admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) with injuries. She is also the wife of former CPM state general secretary K Balakrishnan.
Following talks with Social Welfare Minister Geetha Jeevan on Wednesday, TARATDAC has temporarily called off the protest after being assured that the financial assistance would be increased once the DMK returns to power after the elections. While Tamil Nadu provides Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 per month, Andhra Pradesh offers a minimum of Rs 6,000. TARATDAC has staged protests for six days since February 10, demanding that the financial assistance for PwDs be raised on a par with states such as Andhra Pradesh.
On Tuesday, over 2,000 persons with disabilities staged a protest on Sivananda Salai, after which the police detained them and took them to Rajarathinam Stadium.
Association members said that around 7 pm, police asked protesters to board buses, claiming they would be taken to a hall near Anna Nagar for the night. Instead, more than 15 buses with disabled persons were allegedly driven around the city and dropped at locations including Koyambedu bus terminus around 2 am, leaving many stranded late at night. Since they were not taken to the hall, the disabled persons alerted office-bearers, including Jhansi Rani, who were still at Rajarathinam Stadium.
When the office-bearers refused to board the buses, police allegedly tried to force them in. “In the scuffle, Jhansi Rani fell twice and fainted. Several others were also injured. The police refused to call an ambulance and even blocked the one we arranged. After prolonged arguments, she was finally taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital,” an office-bearer who was at the hospital with Jhansi Rani said. The disabled people, who were dropped off at the Koyambedu bus terminus, also staged a protest there on Wednesday morning.
Several political parties on Wednesday condemned the alleged police excesses against PwDs who have been staging protests in Chennai, and urged the state government to hold talks to address their demands.
CPM, which met in Namakkal on February 17-18, adopted a resolution denouncing the police action. PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss alleged that over 800 protesters were detained and made to remain in buses through the night, terming the action inhuman and repressive.
Meanwhile, police officials said that they attempted to drop off some of the disabled people at the bus terminus as the marriage hall that they were planning to house them in didn’t have enough capacity. They denied manhandling the protesters.
Last year, visually impaired who were protesting demanding reservation in government jobs were also detained and allegedly dropped off at different places by the police.