CHENNAI: Rapper ‘Therukkural’ Arivu and four others were briefly detained by the police after they staged a protest against the NEET outside the secretariat on Tuesday. Police stopped them when they tried to enter the secretariat premises and took them into custody. Later, the rapper was invited to the secretariat, where he met minister Aadhav Arjuna. The minister later escorted him to the exit.
Members of the Congress, CPI, SFI, DYFI staged protest at multiple locations across Chennai condemning police action on students in New Delhi. At Panagal Maligai in Saidapet, Congress members, including state Higher Education Minister P Viswanathan, raised slogans condemning the Delhi police for forcibly removing the opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi after they staged a dharna outside PM Modi’s residence. Around 160 protesters were detained.
CPI state secretary M Veerapandian led a sit-in protest at the party headquarters in T Nagar. He urged the centre to address the students’ demands instead of resorting to force. Students turned up in larger numbers for the demonstration that also featured gaana performances and poetry recitals.
In Egmore, police detained around 80 SFI and DYFI members. DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, in a post on X, questioned whether the action was taken to avoid antagonising the BJP-led union government.
In a post on X, Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin condemned Arivu’s detention for speaking against NEET. “His voice reflects the sentiments and demands of not just Tamil Nadu, but millions of people across India,” the DMK leader said.
TVK condemns Rahul’s detention by Delhi cops
Chennai: The TVK has condemned the detention of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi by the Delhi police. In an unsigned statement posted on the party’s X handle late night, TVK said the manner in which Rahul Gandhi was “dragged away and forcibly carried” by the police was “highly condemnable” and amounted to the suppression of democracy. ENS