Oppn parties in TN condemn police action against anti-CAA protesters

Opposition parties led by the DMK in Tamil Nadu on Saturday lashed out at the police action against anti-CAA protesters here, and sought action against those police personnel who allegedly used force against the agitators. DMK President M K Stalin said the protests were being held in a peaceful manner and sought to know why the police used force to disperse them.

However, BJP leader H Raja slammed the attack on police personnel, in which four including a woman Joint Commissioner sustained injuries. "Lathicharge was done unnecessarily on the peaceful people for no reason and this prompted people across the state to take to the streets," Stalin said in a statement.

On Friday,an anti-CAA protest by Muslims had turned violent when a group of protesters clashed with police here, leaving four personnel injured. The incident had led to sporadic protests across Tamil Nadu, including at Washermanpet in the city, where the violence erupted, but protesters subsequently called off the agitation, following talks with City Police Commissioner AK Viswanathan.

Agitators had alleged that police used force against them. Stalin demanded that any cases in this connection should also be withdrawn and sought action against policemen who allegedly resorted to lathicharge. Hitting out at the AIADMK, the DMK chief said while the ruling party had voted in favour of the amended Citizenship Act in the Parliament, it was also not enacting an Assembly resolution against CAA, a demand putforth by his party.

"Using force in peaceful protests amounts to stirring up a hornet's nest," Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader T T V Dhinakaran said in a statement. He wished such incidents did not repeat. The Vaiko-led MDMK adopted a resolution in its district secretaries meeting, slamming the police for allegedly using force against protestors. BJP leader H Raja, whose party is an ally of the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, slammed the violence against police personnel in the protests. In a tweet, he said "rioters should be dealt with an iron fist."