MADURAI: "Do the people require police permission to draw 'kolam'? Can an improper reading of a research paper be the basis of police speculating her connection with Pakistan?" This was the refrain of lawyer Gayatri Khandhadai, who was booked for drawing kolam in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) at Besant Nagar in Chennai.
Addressing newspersons here, Gayatri said that the police had not read the report properly. She said that she has been working for human rights for years and had published a report on the sufferings of minorities in nine Asian countries including Pakistan for 'Bytes for All', an NGO.
On her association with the Pakistan-based NGO, she said that she is neither working for the organisation nor associated with it, "but has published a report based on statistics in nine countries which also includes Pakistan. This report is in fact against Pakistan and its stand towards religious minorities," she said adding that Chennai Police Commissioner AK Viswanathan, has put her privacy at stake revealing her Facebook profile at a press meet without any prior discussions with her.
"I have been working with several organisations. My Facebook page has the name of some other organisations as well. The reason for police selecting this particular organisation is to brand me as an anti-national, thereby deviating the focus from anti-CAA protests," she further added.
In a tongue-in-cheek manner, Gayatri thanked the police for making the 'kolam' protest viral "by spreading it from North India to New Jersey in US". She also said that political violence would not deter the anti-CAA protests.
Meanwhile, advocate T Lajapathi Roy demanded the Bar Council of India to intervene and take action against the police for detaining lawyers - Devika and her husband Mohan.
National working secretary of Human Rights Defender's Alert (HRDA) - India Henri Tiphagne condemned the police for defaming Gayatri as well as NGO Arappor Iyakkam. "The Pakistan-based NGO under question is not a physical entity. It exists only in the virtual media," he added.
He also said that complaints condemning the act of police were filed with the National Human Rights Commission of India and they will be sent to UN Commission on Human Rights. He also demanded unconditional apology from the city's top cop and sought the intervention of the state DGP in this issue. Advocates M Ajmal Khan and Prabhu Rajadurai were also present at the meeting.