CHENNAI: “I would break the iron bars and come out of prison,” were not the words of lawyers protesting inside the Chief Justice’s court hall on Monday. The orator was a puny three-year-old, accompanying his parents to the protest.
While he was seen playfully mingling with the protestors, Ambedkar, as he was later identified, kept on repeating. While prison would be the last place a child would imagine himself in, it was the very place Ambedkar’s parents chose to take him to.
When asked why Ambedkar’s parents chose to take him along to the protest and later to the prison, an advocate accompanying Ambedkar’s father Bhagat Singh proudly said, “The boy’s father is an idealist.”
Bhagat Singh was the lawyer who led Monday’s protest under the banner of Uyarneedhimandrathil Tamil - Porattakulu. Bhagat Singh’s lawyer wife Barathi was among the protestors, who staged a sit-in. “We both are getting arrested. My son won’t be comfortable with any other person. So we are taking him with us to prison,” Bhagat Singh justified.
The question over arresting the child with the couple left the police bewildered. The personnel decided to take Ambedkar along in the van, as his parents did not want to hand over the child to anyone. Ambedkar accompanied the 12 when they were produced before a magistrate around 10 pm.