TAMIL NADU

A violent round

Violence mars a DMK rally in Chennai against police atrocities. And mediapersons find themselves among the targets of the police.

T.S. SUBRAMANIAN

A BITTER phase of confrontation in Tamil Nadu between the All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government and the Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has taken a turn for the worse after five men were killed when the police opened fire on a DMK rally in Chennai on August 12. A sixth victim was DMK legislator V. Perumal, elected from Saidapet in Chennai in May, who died on August 13.

M. MOORTHY
On Kamaraj Salai near the Marina promenade, after the police clashed with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam rallyists.

The rally was taken out to condemn the "police atrocities" under the Jayalalithaa dispensation and the "barbaric manner" in which the police arrested former Chief Minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi after midnight on June 30.

The police action on August 12 was marked by systematic brutality in which policemen led by a few Indian Police Service (IPS) officers targeted mediapersons, beat them with lathis, kicked reporters who had fallen on the ground, smashed the still camera and video camera equipment of photographers and pulled out film from cameras. They did not spare even women reporters; B. Jayashree of Aaj Tak and A. Srividya of Zee TV received lathi blows. A policeman snatched Jayashree's camera and broke it by throwing it to the ground.

Other mediapersons who were injured in the police attack included: The Hindu and Frontline photographer M. Moorthy; The New Indian Express photographer B.A. Raju; Zee TV cameraman Manish Dhanani and camera assistant K. Yesiah; Ananda Vikatan photographer N. Vivekanandan; Nakkheeran reporter D. Prakash and photographer N. Sampath; and Dinamalar reporter S. Arutchelvam. Moorthy, Manish, Yesiah and Vivekanandan received deep cuts and were admitted to hospitals as in-patients.

The injured mediapersons said the "planned" and "purposeful" manner in which policemen snatched their cameras, pulled out the film and broke the equipment made it clear that they were acting on specific instructions from top police officers. The attacks took place when there was a lull in the clash between the police and the DMK cadres. The photographers filming the violence found themselves in the middle when the two groups retreated. That was when the police turned on them. Vivekanandan was not only beaten but his camera equipment was taken away. It was not returned until the afternoon of August 13. A colleague of Vivekanandan alleged that earlier an IPS officer had pulled out the film in his camera.

K. PICHUMANI
A close encounter with the police.

Several mediapersons alleged that they were virtually imprisoned in the complex of the office of the Director-General of Police, situated close to the spot. The savage attack was of a piece with the manner in which the AIADMK has been going after presspersons since it returned to power in May. In June, Sun TV reporter Suresh was arrested at Villupuram, about 150 km from Chennai, when he accompanied former Minister K. Ponmudi to a State Civil Supplies Department godown. Ponmudi had gone there in an effort to disprove Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's allegation that the previous DMK government had built up stocks of "rotten rice" in the godowns. When reporters wanted to present a memorandum to Jayalalithaa against the targeting of the reporter, she declined to meet them. When journalists tried to take out a procession in Chennai the next day, they were arrested.

Journalists also came in for rough treatment from the police on the day Karunanidhi was arrested. They were commandeered in a van and detained in a room at the Vepery police station so that they would not be able to cover the event. But all these efforts paled before the bloody attack on August 12.

Several eyewitnesses said the onslaught on the DMK rallyists also appeared to be a planned one; it is alleged that AIADMK operatives belonging to a nearby fishermen's colony, Ayodhya Kuppam, armed with sickles, swords and other sharp weapons, went at the rallyists. Television footage showed DMK men with deep cuts on their bodies.

Karunanidhi said the manner in which the "AIADMK rowdies" attacked his partymen was "enough proof" that it was "a clearly planned attack". This was evident to him from the nature of injuries on the victims, he said. Karunanidhi added: "DMK men will not attack DMK men like this. Only enemies will do it."

S.R. RAGHUNATHAN
K. Yesiah, the Zee TV cameraman who was hurt in the police action against mediapersons, in a private hospital in Chennai.

But Jayalalithaa and Chennai Police Commissioner K. Muthukaruppan alleged that it was the DMK men, who were armed with "deadly weapons, logs, sticks, iron pipes and knives," who started indiscriminately "cutting, stabbing and beating police personnel, causing grievous injuries to them."

The situation was serious enough for Andhra Pradesh Governor C. Rangarajan (who is holding additional charge as Tamil Nadu Governor) to fly in from Hyderabad on August 13. Karunanidhi and DMK general secretary K. Anbazhagan presented a memorandum to him. Karunanidhi said he had apprised Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee of the situation. He told Vajpayee that the Centre should set up a commission of inquiry headed by a Supreme Court Judge to go into the entire gamut of recent events, including the latest police firing and the "violation of constitutional norms" by the AIADMK government. Karunanidhi made it clear that he would not demand the dismissal of the AIADMK government.

Jayalalithaa said her government had sent a note to the Governor on the incident and the Chief Secretary would meet Rangarajan. "If necessary, I will meet the Governor," she said.

After the DMK General Council passed a resolution on July 29 that the party should take out a rally on August 12 to condemn the police atrocities that accompanied Karunanidhi's arrest, cadres massed in Chennai. On the procession route, as the party cadres - some of them inebriated - raised slogans against Jayalalithaa and Muthukaruppan, leaders restrained them.

As the procession moved past the office of the DGP, the rallyists were boisterous. They abused the police personnel at the beachfront traffic intersection and threw stones at them. As the stone-throwing intensified, the police lathicharged the crowd, burst teargas canisters and then opened fire. Meanwhile, the DMK men set fire to police vehicles and also aimed missiles at the DGP office complex. Then came the attack, allegedly by the AIADMK activists from Ayodhya Kuppam. They had been "set up" at a nearby government office, an informed source said.

Five persons lost their lives. Muthukaruppan put the toll at three. Two died of plastic bullet injuries and one died in the clash at Ayodhya Kuppam. Five persons received plastic bullet injuries. One person was said to have died in a hit-and-run accident.

ABOUT the attack on mediapersons, a television reporter said that it looked as if "their only aim was to attack the media". She said, "I was chased and hit. I ran inside the DGP's office. Suddenly a policeman lunged at me and said, 'The media are causing all the trouble.' He grabbed my camera and threw it to the ground. Another policeman hit me with a lathi to drive me out of the DGP office complex."

An eyewitness said that when Zee TV crew members Manish Dhanani and Yesiah were filming the violence, about 20 policemen surrounded Yesiah and beat him with lathis, all the time asking him to give the film cassette to them. They smashed Manish's camera,and when he fell to the ground they kicked him. They would not believe him when he said that he had already given them the cassette, the eyewitness said. Police also beat up reporter Srividya who came to the scene. They snatched her bag and emptied its contents. They also snatched her mobile phone. Nakkheeran reporter Prakash was beaten up when he protested.

Moorthy of The Hindu received lathi blows on his head and waist. The bleeding injuries on his head required stitches. His camera was damaged. S.R. Raghunathan, another photographer, received blows on his back. Raju of The New Indian Express sustained bleeding injuries on his head. The police pulled out the film from his camera and damaged the equipment. Muthukaruppan apologised for the attack on the journalists and promised to take action against the policemen concerned.

Karunanidhi expressed solidarity with the journalists. N. Sankaraiah, State secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), condemned the attack on journalists. He said Muthukaruppan's promise of action against the police officers concerned should be implemented. Vaiko, general secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), described the police offensive against presspersons as an "onslaught on the foundation of democracy." Dr.S. Ramadoss, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) president, demanded that the policemen should be identified and action taken against them.

Jayalalithaa said she was distressed that journalists were attacked. She claimed that it happened because they were caught between unruly persons and the police. She said she had asked the police to evolve procedures to see that such incidents did not recur.

The Chief Minister ordered a commission of inquiry headed by retired judge of the Madras High Court, Justice K.S. Baktavatchalam, to find out the truth about the violence at the rally.