Relax, protesters! Jallikattu is now permanent as an Act: Tamil Nadu CM

The pro-Jallikattu stir has turned violent and is affecting public life in Tamil Nadu

In a major relief for pro-Jallikattu agitators, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a permanent bill in a special session held on Monday. The Bill was tabled by Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who said, "Jallikattu is now permanent as an Act".

The protest for Jallikattu, Tamil Nadu's bull-taming sport, had turned violent, affecting public life in various parts of the State, including Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchy, on the seventh day.

Protestors, who claim themselves as students, attacked police personnel and burnt down a police station near Marina beach, Chennai. The beach was the centre point for peaceful protests for the past six days.

The ongoing violence may not augur well for the State, which has been attracting investments largely due to its stable law and order situation. Various companies have said despite issues related to politics and ease of doing business, they choose the state for one key reason -- it maintains the law and order.

Factories in and around Chennai were working normally today, except for the IT corridor, where all the major IT companies have offices. It suffered heavy traffic and unexpected road blocks.

Traffic affecting IT employees heading to the corridor for work. Many were stuck inside their offices, while those who had to join in the second shift were delayed. However, these events will not have a negative impact Tamil Nadu's investor-friendly image, said K Purushothaman, regional director of industry body Nasscom.

The city came to a grinding halt, with such a violent protest affecting the state capital for the first time in at least last three decades.

The incidents of violence co-incided with Tamil Nadu's first assembly session after Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa demise. The session was going on at the Secretariat, just two kilometers away from Marina Beach and Triplicane where a Police station was set on fire by the protestors.

The agitators also threw a petrol bomb at Zambazar police station. According to Police, over 20 policemen, including an Assistant Commissioner, was injured. Police sources said that till yesterday things were peaceful as the agitation largely involved students. Today, however, anti-social elements were said to have got involved as well.

Ahead of the special session, Panneerselvam met the DGP and other officials to take stock of the situation. 

The situation did not return to normalcy till evening, with many of the schools closing early and employees heading home early. This added to the traffic jams across Chennai during the day.

Earlier, the police distributed copies of the ordinance and explained the steps taken by the government to the protesters. In other parts of the State also, the same exercise was done which yielded results as protests were withdrawn. Justice D Hariparanthaman, retired justice of Madras High Court, came down to Marina Beach and spoke to the protestors explaining the legal aspects of the issue and the current status, in order to bring in peace.

At Allanganallur, which is the centre stage for Jallikattu from where the protest started initially, senior from villagers met and discussed about the ordinance and decided to hold the jallikattu on February 1.

Not satisfied with that, cross section of protesters demanded a "permanent" solution, that is, amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act by the Centre taking out bulls from the list of performing animals.

While, police were trying to physically pull out the protesters, they moved towards the sea and started threatening that they will commit suicide by venturing into the sea. The police decided to keep distance.

But things suddenly turned ugly, when group of protesters started throwing stones on the Police. They also burnt two police stations and vehicles parked in front of the stations and houses in and around Triplicane. Following which, Police has decided to resort to lathi charge and used tear gas. But the situation did not stabilise.

The view that the peaceful protest by students has been hijacked by anti-social elements, is widely shared. The State government informed the Madras High Court in a related matter, that students were in the centre stage of the protest till January 19, but the anti-social elements took over after that, which has created the law and order situation. Various film stars including Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan has urged for peace in the State. Rajinikanth, who asked the protestors to stay calm and to obey rules, said that anti-social elements are the reason behind violence.

Cricketer Virender Sehwag in his twitter post said asked the people in Tamil Nadu to keep peace and not to allow vested interests to take advantage.

Local trains and many buses were stopped as railways tracks and roads were blocked across the city people who went to office couldn't return home as usual. At the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) also called as Chennai's IT hub where around 2 lakh IT professionals are working, roads were blocked by the protestors.