THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Unlike previous protests seen at the Manaveeyam Veedhi in Thiruvananthapuram, the anti-SIR protest on Friday saw friction between police officers and event organisers. Officers said the organisers had not availed clearance to use microphones for the event and could have caused traffic disruption.
However, organisers told TNIE that the authorities with the BJP-led city corporation tried to prevent their protests from taking place, having done so even in the past. “The protesters hadn’t availed proper clearance from the corporation to host the event and to use microphones.
The protest would have also caused a traffic block on the road, which is why police officers were deployed there throughout the event,” an officer with the Museum Police said. However, the event began after the officers made a note of the names of the organisers.
Stating that the corporation officials put forward technical and procedural reasons to not let them protest in July, condemning the police action on protesters at Jantar Mantar, the organisers alleged that the officials’ claims were proved to be wrong in the days that followed.
They also added that corporation representatives arrived at the venue less than an hour before their protest, to stop them from hosting the event.
“The fundamental question of ‘getting permission to protest’ in itself is problematic; and a protest is not something planned long back. Neither in July nor for the past few days, when we have been consistently protesting here, have we spoken with the corporation because the officials brought up excuses to deny permission in July,” said Sam Paul Raju, convenor of Collective for Democracy.